The Mess I Made
by DinosXGoXRawr
Summary: Andre says the wrong name at his wedding. Tandre, Bade, and Cabbie. FULL SUMMARY INSIDE.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! So...this idea popped into my head randomly, and I kind of wanted to write this. And I didn't think I would have enough room to post the full summary, so here it is:**

**Tori moved to New York after graduation, leaving Andre behind in LA. But now that Andre is getting married, she knows that she must return to see her old love one last time before he is committed to someone else. But during the wedding ceremony, Andre says the wrong name at the altar, creating a mess that cannot easily be cleaned up. Meanwhile, Cat and Robbie catch wedding fever and begin a secret relationship. Beck seems to be affected by the wedding as well and wonders when Jade will be ready to get married. **

**Alright, I hope this sounds satisfying. I think it'll be a pretty fun fic to write, and I hope it's just as fun to read. The first chap is iffy, but I do believe it'll get better. Reviews are welcome, whether you like or not. (:**

_Andre S. Harris and Chelsea Elizabeth Sanders_

_request the pleasure of your company at their wedding_

_Saturday, the twelfth of July_

_at seven o'clock at Brookridge Chapel_

_1576 South 22nd Street_

_Los Angeles, California_

Tori sighed as she read the creamy beige invitation that just arrived in her mailbox in New York. She lightly ran her finger over the little pink bow tied at the top of the paper and traced the shape of the rose that was drawn in the corner. It seemed as if the intricate golden writing on the invitation was screaming at her, asking her why she had made so many stupid decisions when she was younger. She honestly didn't know if she could figure out why she had made those decisions. She had thought about it so many times in the past five years, but she was still just as clueless as she was before.

As soon as Tori graduated from Hollywood Arts in Los Angeles, she packed up and got ready to leave for New York. She wanted to pursue her dream to become a singer, but she thought that it would be best to try out some Broadway productions before she even attempted to be signed with a record company.

A few months before graduating, Andre had asked Tori out on a date, and she accepted, although she knew that it would be pointless to begin a relationship with Andre. He was planning on staying in Los Angeles with his record company that had signed him, and she had already decided that she was off to New York. She had told Andre about her future plans, but he didn't seem too affected by them at all. He told her that he had been in love with her for too long to just let her slip away from him that easily.

A month before graduation, Andre wrote a song that he wanted Tori to duet with him at a local concert. She sang it, and everyone in the audience seemed to love it. Andre took that as a chance to beg her to stay with him in Los Angeles and record with him. They could be the perfect Hollywood couple, and he promised that he would give her everything that she ever wanted. Tori declined the offer, and things got rough between them after that. A week later, they broke up.

At the time, Tori could only think about her dreams and ambitions. She wanted New York, and Andre craved Los Angeles. She knew that a long distance relationship wouldn't work, and even if it did, she didn't want a relationship to get in the way of her pursuit of her dream career. Besides, when she thought about it enough, she didn't really think she had any feelings for Andre. He had been her best friend through her time at Hollywood Arts, and she felt like that was all it would ever be. She would still be his best friend, but the idea of remaining in a romantic relationship with him didn't seem like a good option.

After graduation, Cat moved off to Paris to become a fashion designer and try her luck at acting overseas. Robbie remained in Los Angeles and found a job working tech at a local theatre. Andre started on his first CD, which hit the stores about two months later. Beck and Jade moved to New York together, but they didn't really stay in contact with Tori. Tori had always heard that after high school graduation, one typically lost contact with all of the friends made in school, but she never really believed it until it actually happened. She was devastated about the break up of the group, but she knew that it had happened for a reason. She had to forget all about her friends and continue her dream of becoming an international superstar. She was going to start small and rise up as time passed.

When Tori finally got moved in to her tiny apartment in New York City and started out to go to her first audition, the pain of all of her losses suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks. She remembered it vividly. She was standing on the corner of her apartment building, waiting for the walk sign to signal her it was safe to cross, and a sharp pain shot through her chest and left her gasping for air. Everyone around her was watching her curiously, but no one seemed determined to assist her. Her fingers tightened around the script that she had picked up at the theatre, and she started to hyperventilate. She was having her first anxiety attack. She fell to her knees just as everyone started to cross the street, and she was surrounded by the crowd of busy people bustling about in big and grand New York City.

As she sat on the sidewalk and stared into the distance, she remembered everything that she had given up. She would probably never see Cat, Robbie, Beck, or Jade ever again. She would miss Cat's crazy bipolar attitude; Robbie's sweet and dorky humor; Beck's laidback, calm nature; and even Jade's horrible, bitter personality. But most of all, she would miss the perfection that she saw when she was around Andre. And no matter how much she tried to fight it, she couldn't deny it any longer. She was completely in love with Andre Harris. And she had left him so that she could waste her life away in New York City.

After her breakdown in the middle of the street, Tori decided that she was going to eliminate him from her life. She didn't want to ache anymore from the thought of him, and maybe if she could get rid of everything that reminded her of him, she wouldn't have to worry ever again. She threw away his CD, boxed up all of their pictures that they had taken together, deleted his number from her phone, and otherwise eliminated all the pain that she had felt since she had moved to New York.

She didn't feel anything for a really long time. And then, when she turned twenty-one, she got a birthday card in the mail from him. All of those feelings started rushing forward again, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to stay away much longer. She tried to scrap up enough money to go back to Los Angeles and see him, but she was almost broke. She had been incredibly unsuccessful on Broadway, only getting one small part that didn't pay much, and she worked nights at a fancy restaurant. She was barely able to pay for shelter, let alone a plane ticket to Los Angeles. She was stuck wallowing in her own misery until she could find something to do to make herself feel better.

Once, she tried to call Beck and Jade to see if they wanted to meet up and catch up, but when she dialed Beck's number, it said that it was no longer in use. She sunk into an even deeper depression after that.

To try one last time to heal her pain, she began dating again. Any guy that asked her, she would go out with them. And none of them ever summed up to the feelings that she felt for Andre. At age twenty-two, one guy actually asked her to marry him, but she declined. She felt like no other guy in the world would make her as happy as Andre had once made her.

And now, at age twenty-three, she stood in her tiny apartment holding an invitation that was asking her to come to the love of her life's wedding. At the bottom was a number to call to confirm her attendance, but she didn't know if she wanted to call it. She still didn't have any money to fly out to Los Angeles, and she didn't want to see Andre get married to some other girl, a girl that she didn't even know. Without much thought to the invitation, she threw it on the coffee table and left her apartment. She wasn't going to go to the wedding.

As she walked down the street to the restaurant that she worked at, she felt her cell phone buzz in her pocket. As she pulled it out and looked at the screen, she frowned at the unrecognized number flashing before her eyes. It had a Los Angeles area code, though, so she figured it might be someone she knew. She pressed the accept button and held it up to her ear as she pressed the button on the walk signal in front of her.

"Hello?"

"Tori?" The voice was incredibly familiar to her, and she almost dropped her phone at the shock of hearing it again. It was like soft, smooth silk to her ears, and she lost her voice. It had been so long, and now her heart was beating a million miles an hour and her stomach had butterflies fluttering inside of it. She might be sick. "Tori, is that you?"

"Andre?" she said, her voice cracking under all of the pressure building up inside her chest. "This is Tori."

For what seemed like a long time, all she heard was his breathing on the other side of phone. And then his warm, soothing voice rang out again. "Tori, it's been forever. Why haven't you talked to me in so long?"

She could say she was busy, but that would be a lie. She could say that she had been on Broadway for so long and she had become so successful that she completely forgot about staying in touch, but that would be a lie too. She was not successful here in New York City, but if she would have stayed in Los Angeles with Andre, she could have been a star by now. She felt incredibly stupid.

"I didn't have your number. I don't have a computer in my apartment, and I don't have your address, so I couldn't e-mail or write to you," she said quietly as she began to walk across the street.

"Man, I was in New York just a couple of weeks ago with Chelsea," Andre said. "I thought about calling you, but I got busy, and then we had to go back to Los Angeles. Did you get the invitation?"

Tori hesitated. She didn't want to talk about the wedding with him. She didn't want to go and watch him marry a girl that she didn't know and probably wouldn't like. She wanted him to want her just like he did when they were in high school. She knew that they were meant to be together. She could feel it in her heart. But he was getting married, and she was still alone.

"Um…yeah," she finally replied. "I don't think I'll be able to come-"

"What?" Andre sounded kind of hurt and shocked. "Why not? You busy being a Broadway star?"

It hurt, but Andre didn't know the truth. Tori pretended like she hadn't just been completely insulted by accident and rushed on. "No, I'm free. I just don't think that I'll have the money to-"

"You won't have the money to come? Well, I'll pay for your plane ticket and your hotel room. No big deal."

Tori frowned. She had no idea that she had that much financial trouble until now. It was starting to sink in badly. "I can't let you do that, Andre."

"Tori, I can't get married if my best friend's not there."

The words stung her. After all this time, he still considered her his best friend. After every stupid thing that she had done, he still loved her as a best friend. She had to go see him now, even if he was getting married and it would feel like she was getting stabbed in the heart repeatedly. Just seeing him smile would make her happy for years to come.

"Fine, but I have to pay you back-"

"No, you don't. It's not a big deal. But I better see you there in a couple of months. I won't be happy if you're not there."

Tori could practically feel him smiling on the other line. For the first time in a long while, a real smile formed on her face. "I'll be there, Andre. I promise."

"Great!" Andre exclaimed. "So you, Cat, and Robbie are coming. I'll just have to call Beck and Jade and make sure that they're coming. It'll be like old times, Tor."

"Yeah, old times," she said. "Old times" was when Beck and Jade were dating, Cat and Robbie were the only single ones, and Tori and Andre were a happy musical couple. "Old times" was when Tori actually had potential and could steal the spotlight at any show. "Old times" was when she was happy.

"Hey, Tor?" Andre asked, which broke her from her miserable thoughts. "Do you think you could possibly sing at the wedding? I wanna surprise Chelsea, and you're the best singer I know."

Tori gulped and contemplated the idea. How terrible would that be? She was going to sing at the wedding of the man she loved. And he wasn't even marrying her. She would feel awful if she sang, but she would feel guilty if she turned him down.

"Sure, I can sing something," she said. She's outside of the restaurant now, and she doesn't want to hang up on Andre, but her shift starts in just two minutes and she needs to get ready. "I have to go. I'll see you in a couple of months."

"Alright. I can't wait," Andre said. "Bye, Tori."

Tori found herself smiling again. "Bye, Andre."

She hung up the phone reluctantly and walked into the restaurant, greeting all of her fellow employees as she tied her hair into a messy ponytail and straightened her clothes a little. Just two months, and she would be in LA again with all of her friends, most importantly Andre. She tried to fight back the smile that had been gracing her face for the past few minutes, but it just wouldn't leave. She couldn't wait to see everyone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow! I didn't really plan on updating this fast, but I also didn't plan on having this much feedback either. Thanks, guys. It means a ton to me. So, I didn't really want to make this chapter as long as it is, but I felt like I really needed to capture all of the feelings of returning home, so it ended up being incredibly long. Sorry about that. :/**

**Also, whoever pointed out that this was kind of like Friends, thanks. haha. I was wondering if anyone would catch on to that. I love Friends, and Ross/Rachel and Chandler/Monica are my favorites. **

**Leave a review, if you like or not. Thanks! (:**

The plane ride to LA went well, although Tori felt guilty that Andre had to pay her way there. As soon as she got her luggage and walked out of the airport, she was met by the all too familiar atmosphere that she grew up in. Los Angeles looked just as a beautiful as ever, maybe even better. She had missed the golden sunshine and the beach so much. In New York, she couldn't even see the sky because of all the skyscrapers, and she absolutely hated it.

As she walked down the street, she found herself smiling more and more. She was headed to her parents' house, because she refused to let Andre pay for her a hotel and a plane ticket. As she reached the end of the sidewalk, she held a hand out to hail a taxi, but no one seemed to want to stop for her. That was fine with her. She could continue her walk, soaking up the Los Angeles atmosphere that she had missed out on in the past five years.

She passed by large crowds of people on the sidewalk, just like she always did in New York, but they didn't seem like they were in as big of a hurry as the people in New York were. She enjoyed the laidback environment, and every once in a while, she would start to skip down the sidewalk and sing songs from her youth, songs that promised her star potential. But she was no longer a star, and the songs started to depress her after a while.

Tori didn't go directly to her house. She made a few detours here and there. She stopped by the beach to see the rolling blue waters of the Pacific Ocean, and she grinned and took off her flip-flops so that she could walk across the sand and enjoy the feel of it between her toes. It had been a long, long time since she had enjoyed the sand. She ventured down Sunset Boulevard, just to check up on everything, and it all seemed to be the same. And then she dropped by Hollywood Arts, the school that was supposed to make her a star. And it would have made her a star, if she wouldn't have made that stupid decision to move to New York. She couldn't stand to look at the school for too long though, because tears were starting to form in her eyes and her suitcases were getting a little hard to carry around, so she began to walk in the direction of her old house once more.

Getting around the city came naturally to her. It was like she had never left. The walk seemed to be getting longer and longer as she trotted toward her house, the bags boring down on her like she was carrying cement in her bag instead of clothes and other necessities. She would be seeing her parents and her sister, the people that she hadn't spoken to or seen in five years. She had, of course, called her parents and warned them of her arrival, and they seemed incredibly happy for her to visit. They were the same old parents that she left behind, and she felt awful for not staying in contact with them. But she was too caught up in trying to live her big New York dream that never happened, and she almost forgot her old life completely.

When she reached the porch, she set her bags down and stretched her arms, immediately regretting her few detours as a pain shot up her arm from all the weight that she had lugged around all day. And when she had recovered, she knocked on the door eagerly, her whole body shaking as she waited for someone to open the door.

"Who is it?" someone called from inside. Tori didn't have to see it to know that it was her older sister Trina Vega. Her voice wasn't as loud and obnoxious as it was when Tori had left, but it was still Trina, and she couldn't wait for her to throw open the door so that she could hug her and tell her how much she missed her.

"Ugh, who is it?" Trina called again as she opened the door, and her angry expression suddenly contorted into somewhat of a prideful smirk. "Hey, little sister. Long time, no see."

Tori smiled and threw her arms around her sister so tightly that Trina gagged and gasped for air, but nonetheless, she returned the hug.

"Trina, I've missed you," Tori said as she pulled away from her, picked up her bags, and walked inside. "I mean, you really annoyed me when I lived here, but I know I annoyed you too. That's just what sisters do, I guess."

Trina shrugged and applied a fresh coat of lip gloss, and she walked past the bags that were now littering the living room floor. "I don't know. It's been kind of quiet without you here. I mean, I haven't had anybody to fight with night and day. There's no one to mess with except Mom and Dad, and I don't like to bother them because they lock me in the bathroom." She paused to open the refrigerator and get something to drink, and then she turned around to Tori again. "So how's Broadway?"

Tori frowned. Her sister had filled her in over the phone about how she had gotten a movie deal and was going to be playing an extra with only three lines, but that was still more successful than Tori had been in New York. She hadn't even had one line in her small Broadway part.

"Um…well, dancing behind the lead in _Grease _was fun," she muttered, not looking directly into Trina's eyes. She couldn't lie to her sister, but she couldn't let Trina know that she had finally beaten her either. It hurt so much to not be talented anymore.

Trina didn't seem happy about Tori's failure. In fact, when Tori looked back up at her, Trina was only staring at her with sorrowful eyes and frowning deeply. "I'm sorry, Tori," she said quietly. "Broadway's tough. Stage acting is much harder than movie acting. Maybe if you keep going, you'll-"

"Trina, don't lie to me," Tori said, crossing her arms and walking over to the kitchen where her sister was standing. "Was I really talented? Or did I just get parts based on looks? I mean, I don't understand. How could I be so successful here, but when I move to New York, I'm in a huge slump?"

Trina bit her lip, and her face twisted into a look as if she was about to throw up. She took a sip out of her water bottle and studied the ground for a few seconds, and then when the silence was growing too uncomfortable for her to bear, she looked up again. "You were a lot of things that I wasn't," she said, so low that Tori had to lean over the kitchen counter to hear her. "You were pretty, and you could sing and dance and act better than me. You were one of the best at Hollywood Arts at everything, and I was incredibly jealous of you. A lot of people were. We all thought that you were going to be a big star one day."

Tori scowled and reached for an apple that was set out on the counter. "I kind of expected it too. I mean, people told me I was talented. I never really believed it myself. But if everyone else was saying it, I kind of thought that talent was gonna get me somewhere, you know? And now, I'm just…miserable."

Trina made an awful hacking noise, took a sip of her water, and then patted Tori on the shoulder. "It's okay. You'll feel better when you get around all that wedding stuff." She eyed Tori's disgusted expression that turned to sadness, and her shoulders drooped. "It doesn't bother you that Andre is getting married, does it?"

Tori shrugged and pulled away from her sister to go get her bags. "I don't know. I mean, I just left him here, you know. He still loved me when I left."

Trina raised an eyebrow and followed after Tori, her big high heel boots click-clacking across the floor. "But did you still love him?"

"I-" Tori paused and looked up at Trina, who seemed a whole lot more intimidating now that she was delving into Tori's personal thoughts. But Trina was her sister, and even though she had annoyed her when they lived together, she never told Tori's secrets. "Yes, I did. And I still do. But you can't tell anyone that. I'm singing at the wedding, and I just…I feel awful. But we can still be friends, right?"

Trina opened her mouth as if she was ready to speak, but then she closed it and shrugged as she walked back into the kitchen. Tori rolled her eyes and picked up all of her bags, and she headed up the stairs to where her old room used to be. She was going to go through everything and remember the past before she had to move on with the future.

Meanwhile, Trina pulled out her cell phone and dialed the number to one of the local Chinese restaurants to place an order. Her parents were not at home, and if she attempted to cook, she would burn the house down.

"Hey, Tori!" she yelled as loudly as she could, which wasn't really necessary because Tori probably could have heard her without her yelling. "What do you want from the Chinese place?"

"Not hungry!" Tori yelled back.

Trina sighed and waited as the phone rang, and then the doorbell rang noisily throughout the house, causing her to jump and drop the phone. As she leaned down to grab it, she called out, "Tori, get the door!"

"No! You're downstairs! You get it!"

The Chinese guy had answered the phone, but Trina simply rolled her eyes and ended the call as she walked over to the door to answer it. As it swung open and she prepared to yell at whoever was interrupting her lazy day at home, she dropped her phone again and smiled. Andre was on the front porch step smiling right back at her.

"Well, well, well. Isn't this nice?" she said as she opened the door farther and gestured him in. "I haven't seen you in a while, Andre. Let's see…the last time I saw you was when you and Tori were dating." She wanted to make Andre realize that he still loved Tori, because she didn't want her sister to be depressed anymore. And she knew that Andre still cared about Tori.

"Yeah, that was a long while back, huh?" Andre said, still smiling. He was wringing his hands nervously as he peered around the wide open room. "Is Tori here yet?"

Trina grinned and motioned toward the stairs. "She's in her room. Why don't you make yourself at home and I'll go get her?" She watched as Andre sat down on the couch, and when she was sure that he wasn't paying any attention to her, she dashed up the stairs and barged into Tori's room, startling her.

"What's wrong with you?" Tori asked as she moved her photo albums out of the way of Trina's big boots.

"Someone is here to see you," Trina replied, a mischievous grin playing across her face. "I think you should come see them."

Tori frowned and got up from the floor, confused by her sister's strange actions. Who could possibly be here to see her? She hadn't seen anyone from LA in five years, and she hadn't told any of her friends that she was coming today. As far as they knew, she wasn't going to be here until the day before the wedding.

Trina rushed down the stairs into the living room, leaving Tori completely alone at the top of the stairs, still incredibly confused. "Trina, I don't understa-" She stopped when her eyes fell upon the boy sitting on the couch looking up at her and smiling. She felt like her heart was melting right into her stomach, and her legs wobbled dangerously, threatening to make her collapse down the stairs any second. "Andre," she managed to get out, even though her throat was closing up on her.

Andre smiled even wider as he got up and walked toward the base of the stairs. "Tori Vega," he said in wonderment, gesturing for her to come down the stairs. "You're just as stunning as you were five years ago."

Tori gulped and raised her hand to her chest as she continued to gaze at him. Her heart was pounding so fast and loud that she wondered whether Andre could hear it booming against her chest. She wasn't doing any good just standing there gawking at him, though. She had to go see him. _Just put one foot in front of the other and move, you idiot_, she told herself, and on shaky legs, she finally made it to him without making a total fool of herself.

For a moment, they just stared into each other's eyes, and Tori thought she was going to be sick. And when she felt her stomach constrict, Andre wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into the tightest hug that she had ever had. She smiled and returned the hug, and she glanced at Trina, who was giving her a thumbs-up and a smirk. Tori sent a thumbs-up back, and she closed her eyes and took in the feeling of Andre's body against hers. She felt like this was the one place in the world that she belonged forever, but that wasn't going to be the case. She would probably never fit against anyone else's body as perfectly as she fit against Andre's.

"So we haven't got to talk a lot," Andre said, pulling away from her and almost making her collapse with sadness. "How've you been?"

"I've been great," Tori replied, looking down at the floor nervously and shifting from one foot to the other. "How did you know I was coming today? I mean, you sent me the money for the plane ticket, but you didn't know when I was coming."

Andre shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I have my ways." Tori didn't even have to think about it anymore to realize that it had been Trina who told him. "Anyway, the rest of the group is at the hotel. They came in early, too. I told them I was coming to get you, and then when we got back, we could go out to eat or something. Chelsea's with them, too. You need to meet her. She's been looking forward to meeting you."

Tori's smile dropped as she thought about this unknown girl that was about to snatch Andre away from her. The girl actually wanted to meet her, while Tori had lain in bed every night since she got the invitation wondering just how she could make this girl's life miserable before the big day. She felt a twinge of regret about that now. "Great, I can't wait to meet her. But, I should probably stay here with Trina-"

"No, you go ahead, Tor," Trina said, rushing over to them and clapping a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Mom and Dad won't be back for a while, and I'll probably just go out shopping in a little bit. I still need a dress to wear to the wedding." She glanced at Andre, and then back at Tori. "Go have fun with Andre, little sis." She nudged Tori in the ribs and winked quite obviously, and Tori grimaced and walked away from her.

"Can I grab a bottle of water before we go?" Andre asked, and Tori nodded.

As Andre turned his back on them and walked into the kitchen, Trina grabbed Tori rather aggressively and whispered hurriedly, "He's totally still in love with you," before releasing her again and plopping down on the couch. "Have fun, guys," she said, waving at them happily as Andre returned and followed Tori out of the house.

"Any particular reason why Trina's acting all weird?" Andre asked as he pulled some keys out of his pocket.

Tori shrugged and bit her lip as she watched his fingers run over the jagged edges of the keys. She wanted to hold his hand so badly, but she couldn't. "I don't really know. Trina's always been weird."

"True," Andre agreed as they reached a black SUV parked in the driveway. "It won't take long to get there. They're just staying at the Hilton."

Tori nodded as she opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat. She was still having a hard time believing that this was all real. Andre was cranking up his car right next to her, and they were going to meet up with the rest of their friends. She absolutely couldn't wait.

The entire ride there, they talked about Andre's music career and how successful he had been in the past few years. Tori didn't mind this, because she liked hearing about his happiness and fortune. She failed to tell him that she had done absolutely nothing with her life and that she was in an even bigger hole than she ever was, but she would tell him all in good time. Now wasn't the time. He was happy, and she was happy with him, and that's all that she needed.

He told her all about Chelsea and how she had been a backup dancer in one of his music videos and how they had met and started dating. He gave her all of the details of the proposal and the wedding planning. All she could do was smile and nod in interest, even though she couldn't care less about the girl.

"We're here," Andre said as soon as he parked after what seemed like an eternity of talking about Chelsea.

Tori looked out the window at the many floors of the Hilton towering above her, and she sighed in contentment. Just inside those doors, her friends were waiting for her arrival. But so was Chelsea. She was torn between whether or not she should be excited about this meeting. But as she heard Andre slam the door on his side, she realized that she didn't have much of a choice. She got out of the car and followed him into the hotel lobby.


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow, this chapter is really long. Took me forever to write. The ending is a bit rushed, but...well, you know. The first couple of chapters have been kind of slow, but I promise it'll get better because the wedding is fast approaching. (: Thank you guys so much for reading, and please leave a review, whether you like or not. **

As soon as Andre opened the door, a girl with long, curly black hair hurried over to them and threw herself into his arms. "Hey, baby," she said in a semi-seductive tone, smiling as she kissed Andre and glanced over at Tori. "This must be Tori." She held out a hand for Tori to shake. "I'm Chelsea."

Tori took a moment to absorb the girl's image. She had a heart-shaped face with long, curly, black hair framing it almost perfectly and dark, chocolate brown eyes that seemed to be smiling more than her pink, glossed-over lips were. She had rich, smooth olive skin and an hourglass figure, and it seemed like everything about her was perfect. Tori felt really insecure standing next to her, but she shook her hand anyway and plastered a smile on her face. "It's nice to meet you, Chelsea," she lied.

Chelsea released her hand and turned away from her as if she wasn't even there. "Andre, your friends are so funny. I love them. Well, except for that Jade girl. She's a little unpleasant…"

"Yeah, that's Jade for you," Andre said, glancing at Tori, who nodded in agreement. "She sucks the happiness right out of your life sometimes. But hey, she's my friend, and you get used to it over time."

For a second, Andre and Chelsea stood there holding hands and gazing into each other's eyes, and then Chelsea moved forward and pretty much attacked Andre's face. Tori looked away from them and started to bite her nails nervously, a habit that she had picked up in the last couple of years, hoping that this wouldn't last very long. It was nauseating.

"Alright," Andre said after what seemed like forever, pushing Chelsea away from him. "Why don't we go meet up with everybody and go out to dinner?" He looked at Tori and flashed her a smile. "We're going to Maestro's. You remember that place, Tor?"

Of course Tori remembered Maestro's. That was the place where she and Andre had sang their first duet together. That was also the place that she realized that she might have a few more feelings for Andre than what she had originally intended. Going back to Maestro's was going to make her take a trip down Memory Lane that she didn't really want to take. It would make her remember the days when she and Andre were a dynamic duo and they were completely unstoppable. But now, he was with Chelsea, and he could sing while she did backup dancing. Maybe they worked well together.

"Yeah, I remember Maestro's," she said, and then, out of spite toward Chelsea, added, "Maybe we can perform together again."

Chelsea shot a glance at her and quickly laced her fingers with Andre's before smiling at both of them. "You guys performed a song together?" she asked. "I didn't know she sang. Why didn't you tell me she sang?"

Andre frowned as Tori looked over at him in disbelief. It was as if he hadn't said one word to Chelsea about Tori besides the fact that she existed, but he didn't mind bragging to Tori about Chelsea. It upset her greatly that he hadn't shared anything about his past with Chelsea, but she wasn't going to tell her that they used to date. Even though she didn't want Andre to get married to some other girl, he seemed happy with her, and she didn't want to ruin his happiness. She would keep her mouth shut and put on a fake smile and act like this whole thing wasn't killing her inside. Did he even mention to Chelsea that Tori was his best friend?

"Tori's an incredible singer," Andre said as they began to walk through the hotel lobby to the check-in. "Her sister's tongue got all swollen one night and Tori had to fill in for her, and that's how she got accepted to Hollywood Arts. It was great."

"Oh, so she went to school with you?" Chelsea asked. Tori noticed that Chelsea's voice was oozing with jealousy, and she couldn't help but smile just a little bit at the idea of Andre's fiancée feeling threatened by his ex-girlfriend.

Andre seemed to sense the tension between the two of them, because he grabbed Chelsea's shoulders and steered her away from Tori. "Yeah, we have plenty of time to discuss this later. Why don't we worry about meeting up with old friends now? Tori's here, guys."

Tori had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't even see her old friends in front of her, and she didn't prepare herself when a flash of red flew in front of her and tackled her in a big bear hug.

"Tori! I've missed you!" the dreamy, high-pitched voice said, and Tori smiled as she hugged Cat back.

"I've missed you too, Cat. How's life?"

The simple question caused Cat to go into a long, detailed story about her life in Paris, and after a few minutes of listening to her, Tori looked up and saw her other three friends who she had so desperately missed in the past few years. She didn't mean to interrupt Cat, but she was just so happy, and she rushed to throw her arms around Beck and Robbie, who seemed just as happy to see her.

Jade, on the other hand, was a different story. The two girls had left each other on a good note, but Tori wasn't exactly sure if they were friends. When Jade approached her, she looked just as awkward, and she held out a hand for Tori to shake. But Tori was just so happy to see her that she threw her arms around and pulled her into a hug. And surprisingly, Jade hugged her back.

When Tori pulled away, she spent a moment just examining her friends. They all looked the same, except for a few things. Cat's hair had gotten longer, and she had grown slightly paler. Robbie had cut his hair, grown a few inches, and gotten rid of Rex (which was a relief). Jade's hair didn't have colorful extensions in it, and she had gotten a couple of new tattoos. Beck had cut his hair just a little bit, and he didn't seem as happy as he used to be. He just looked tired. And then Tori realized…

She grabbed Jade's hand and observed it carefully, and when she didn't find what she was looking for, she looked up at Jade in confusion. "Where's your wedding ring?"

Jade jerked her hand away from Tori and looked as if she was about ready to kill her. Just like old times. "What are you talking about? I haven't gotten married."

Tori looked around at the group curiously, and then she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and frowned. "I'm sorry. I just assumed-"

"Jade doesn't want to get married," Beck explained as he threw his arm around Jade's shoulders.

Tori frowned even more and then glanced at Andre hopefully. Things seemed to have gotten really awkward really fast. "So…I'm starving. Who else is hungry?"

"Me!" Cat exclaimed happily, raising her hand and giggling. The poor girl clearly didn't sense the tension in the room, and she darted toward the door eagerly, her pink heels click-clacking across the hotel lobby.

Andre watched her for a second before reaching for Chelsea's hand. "Follow Li'l Red," he said, and they all followed after him and Chelsea, who seemed way too attached to her husband-to-be. Tori couldn't understand how Andre put up with that. He had always hated clingy girls.

Somehow, they all loaded up into Andre's SUV. Everyone was chattering happily with each other as if they hadn't been separated for many years, except for Tori. She couldn't find anything to say to them. How's life? Well, she couldn't tell them that she was living in a small apartment on the bad side of town that she was barely paying for and working at a restaurant at night and looking for an acting job during the day. They would think she was a failure. They were all probably living the dream, just exactly how they had planned.

Andre put in one of his CDs and blasted it full volume, explaining how Chelsea had been the inspiration for the song and how he had written it in only an hour's time. It had gotten number one on the charts within the third week of its release. Everyone liked it a lot, including Tori, though she hated to admit it. The song was all about Chelsea, and she didn't like Chelsea. But only because Chelsea had Andre and she didn't.

The owner at Maestro's remembered Andre and Tori well from their performance so many years ago, and he told them that he knew they were going to be big in Hollywood one day. Tori only wished that he had been right. He wasted no time in getting them a table, and almost as soon as they sat down, people were rushing up to Andre and asking for his autograph. He signed them happily, although everyone else seemed to be frustrated by it. After all, this was supposed to be their day out. And people were swarming Andre like he was honey and they were bees.

When the fangirls left, Andre turned around to them as if nothing had happened. Chelsea cuddled up closer to him, and Tori grimaced. She absolutely adored how Andre was so calm about the pressures of being famous, but she knew she would never accept that she wouldn't be the girl sharing the spotlight with him.

"So what's been happening with everybody lately? Anything interesting?" Andre asked as he scanned over the menu.

"My new line of dresses was featured in a Paris fashion show!" Cat squealed, smiling widely. "And people seemed to like it. I think it'll be popular in the States pretty soon."

"I got a job at a late night comedy club with Rex," Robbie said. Tori sighed. So he _hadn't _gotten rid of the puppet. Well, at least he wasn't carrying him around everywhere now…

"Sounds great," Andre said with a smile. His brown eyes fell upon Tori for a second as if he was about to ask about her life lately, but then he looked at Beck and Jade. "How are things with you guys? Anything interesting happening?"

"Unless you consider playing a plate in _Beauty and the Beast_ interesting, then no," Beck replied. He didn't look too thrilled about that at all, but it was a job. And in the acting business, you had to take what you were given.

"I'm writing a play," Jade said. "It's about two mass murderers who are out to get revenge on their ex-spouses. And then they meet and fall in love, and then they help each other get revenge. But then they both go crazy and end up murdering each other." She paused to take a sip of her water that was now in front of her. "It's a comedy."

Tori raised her eyebrow in confusion, and everyone else's faces seemed to be showing the same emotion, except for Beck's. He looked pretty calm with the idea, probably because he had dealt with it for the past five years.

"Anyway," Andre said, changing the subject. "What about you, Tor?"

Tori cringed as everyone's eyes fell on her. For once in her life, she hated the spotlight being on her. She felt a little better knowing that she wasn't the only one who hadn't gotten a lead in a play or movie, but she still felt like the biggest failure in the group. She had to come up with something to tell them. She had to make it sound like she had done something with her life since she left.

"I was in _Grease_," she said with a small smile. "Background dancer. But, I auditioned for _Hairspray_ the other day, and I think I'm gonna get a good part." That wasn't a total lie. She did audition, and she just hadn't received a phone call about callbacks yet.

"That's all you've done?" Robbie asked, his voice full of shock. It seemed as if everyone else expected better of her too.

"Yeah, but I don't have time for all that," Tori said, waving it off like it was nothing. And before she knew it, she was lying. "I've been writing my own music and working on getting a recording contract. Maybe I'll be able to move back to LA pretty soon." Yeah, she was lying. She couldn't write lyrics even if she tried, and when it came to playing instruments, she was abysmal. Without Andre, she was nothing.

"So you finally decided that you're getting into recording?" Andre asked with a smile. "Well, maybe we can work on a song together."

"Oh, yay!" Cat exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly. "Just like you guys used to do in high school." She looked at Tori, whose eyes had widened a great deal because she knew that Cat couldn't keep her mouth shut. She gave Cat a look that warned her to shut up, but she continued. "You know, like when you guys were dating."

The whole table fell silent, and Tori buried her face in her hands and refused to look up at anyone. Especially Chelsea.

"You guys dated?" Chelsea asked after what felt like an eternity of silence. "You never told me that when you were telling me about her."

Tori dared to look up now. Andre looked like he wanted to explain it all to her, but he was at a loss for words. Cat and Beck both looked sympathetically at Tori, and Cat mouthed a "sorry" to her. Robbie looked confused, as he always did when something happened. And Jade was smirking, because for some reason, she loved awkward situations, as long as she wasn't a part of it.

"I didn't think it was that big of a deal," Andre said. "I mean, it was only for a few months, and I haven't talked to her in five years. It didn't really mean anything, Chels."

Tori felt a sharp pain in her chest, like her heart was tying itself into knots. Five years ago, he told her that he loved her more than anything. And it didn't mean anything to him? It meant something to Tori. She felt like she had been lied to.

Luckily, before anything could get any more awkward, the waiter came to take their orders. Tori didn't want to order because she didn't want Andre paying for her, but he insisted, so she got the cheapest thing on the menu, which wasn't so cheap at all.

Chelsea seemed to forgive Andre for not mentioning his past relationship with his best friend, but she didn't talk to Tori for the whole night. Tori knew that Chelsea disliked her almost as much as she disliked Chelsea, if not more. After a while, she decided that she couldn't let Andre get married without him knowing how she felt about him. She would be lying to him if she told him that it was okay with her for him to get married. He didn't have to leave Chelsea or anything, because she knew that he loved her. But he did have to know how she felt.

When their food came, Tori picked up her fork and started to eat some of her lobster potatoes, but she stopped when Beck handed her a piece of folded paper and a pen. She raised an eyebrow at him, but he didn't explain it. She shrugged and opened it, and in messy handwriting at the top, it read:

_What's up with you? You're not talking or anything. Everything okay?_

In slightly neater handwriting underneath it, it said, _Isn't it obvious? She's still in love with Andre, and she just won't admit it. _

Below that, it read, _Don't mind Jade. But seriously, are you still in love with him?_

Tori frowned and looked up at Beck and Jade across the table from her, and Beck looked concerned while Jade wore her usual smirk that never seemed to leave her face. She picked up the pen and scribbled a quick reply before passing the note back across the table to them, hoping that no one else noticed the secretive exchange going on. She didn't really want to tell Beck and Jade anything too personal since she knew that Jade wouldn't be able to keep her mouth shut, but she told them anyway. She needed to tell someone besides Trina. It was eating her up inside.

She started to eat her dinner, occasionally looking up to see if the note had been passed back to her, but every time that she looked up, she saw Beck and Jade arguing about something in hushed tones. When she finished her food and still hadn't gotten a reply, she turned to Cat and started to ask about her love life, but she stopped herself when she saw the manager approaching the table.

"Excuse me, Mr. Harris," he said, "but I was wondering if you would mind performing one song for everyone. You don't have to, but-"

Andre held up a hand to stop him, and he smiled. "It's fine. I'd love to do it. But you know I can't do it without Tori." He glanced over at Tori from across the table and winked, and Tori smiled a little too much in return. Chelsea glared in her direction too, but she didn't say anything.

"That's understandable," the manager said, casting a glance at Tori. "Thank you two so much for doing this. It really means a lot."

The manager walked away, and Andre gestured for Tori to follow him to the piano. Chelsea kissed him rather passionately before he went on stage, but Andre acted like that was completely normal. As Tori got up, Beck slid the paper back over to her, and she glared at him before stuffing it in her skirt pocket and following Andre. That's when she realized that, once again, she was badly underdressed for the restaurant, and she debated on whether or not she should ask to borrow Jade's dress again. As she turned around to ask, she felt Andre's hand wrap around her arm, and he pulled her up to the stage.

"You wanna do 'Tell Me That You Love Me'?" Tori asked as she picked up the microphone and climbed up onto the piano.

"You still remember the words?" Andre asked, taking his seat at the piano.

"You still remember how to play it?"

Andre hit the beginning note and smiled at her, and she beamed back at him, feeling like a lovesick puppy. If only…

"I'd like to dedicate this song to my soon-to-be wife, Chelsea," Andre said into the microphone, and a bunch of 'awws' and 'oohs' followed after him. Chelsea clapped, and Tori frowned as she looked at Beck and Jade. Now she didn't want to sing the song…

Andre began to play the song, however, and she had no other choice but to sing. "Oh, yeah yeah." Her vocals were not what they used to be, and she coughed nervously and glanced at Chelsea, who didn't seem impressed at all. "The situation turns around enough to figure out that someone else has let you down so many times I don't know why. But I know we can make it as long as you say it. So tell me that you love me. And tell me that I take your breath away…"

She felt her own breath catch in her throat as she looked at Andre, his warm brown eyes smiling more so than his lips, and she thought she might pass out. But she quickly recovered herself, and she and Andre finished the song to a standing ovation from the entire restaurant.

While Andre rushed over to Chelsea, Tori walked calmly over to the rest of her friends, who all praised her for the performance. While Cat was rattling off about some song that she had heard in Paris, Tori inconspicuously pulled the note out of her pocket and unfolded it.

_Tell him_ was written in Beck's sloppy handwriting, and in Jade's neat handwriting, _Yeah, time's running out, Vega._

Tori smiled over at them and then looked at Andre. Yes, she was going to tell him very, very soon.


	4. Chapter 4

**I apologize for this being so long...**

Beck was lying on the bed in his and Jade's hotel room looking through _People_ magazine, although he didn't really care about what the celebrities were doing these days. He flipped another page and saw an article that they did on Andre, but he had read the same article ten times. In fact, he had read the whole magazine through at least twice. Every once in a while, he sighed loudly and dramatically, and Jade would cast a glare at him that he could only see in her reflection in the mirror. She hadn't turned around to look at him or even talked to him in the past half hour.

After flipping the page and seeing Angelina Jolie's face _again_, he groaned and threw the magazine onto the floor. He flipped over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, but that got boring too, and he shifted his gaze back to Jade. He knew that most people found her to be the most bitter, unpleasant person in the world, but he thought she was absolutely beautiful. He smiled as he watched her apply a thick layer of eyeliner, and then he decided that he would name off every little thing he loved about her to keep himself from getting bored. Her eyes, her hair, her lips, the way her hand fit into his, how smooth her skin was, her atrocious attitude that wasn't so atrocious to him, the way that dark purple dress was hugging her body perfectly-

"Beck, stop staring at me," Jade snapped at him, finally turning around to look at him after that long half hour. "It's creepy and it's making me nervous. I can't put on my make-up while you're looking at me."

"You don't need make-up," Beck told her. "You look just fine without it."

Jade scowled at him and turned around to start on her mascara. "Stop trying to be charming. It's not working. You're actually annoying me. I liked it better when you were quiet."

Beck rolled his eyes and got off the bed. "You've been getting ready for three hours. You know, this isn't the actual wedding. It's just the rehearsal dinner."

"Yeah, but I have to look good," Jade told him. She was done putting on her make-up; now she was curling the ends of her hair for the third time that evening. "You're the best man."

"And what does that have to do with the way you look?"

Jade looked at him like he was stupid, and he frowned at her. After eight years with her, he still hadn't completely figured out the complex way that her mind worked. "Because you'll be making a speech, and I'll be sitting next to you. People will be looking in our direction, and I don't want to look hideous."

"But they'll be looking at me, not…never mind," he said when she narrowed her eyes into that deathly glare that she was famous for. "I'll go brush my hair again. By that time, you should be ready, right?"

Jade shrugged. "Maybe. Depends on what kind of mood I'm in when you get back."

Beck rolled his eyes at her again and walked into the bathroom. Eight years had passed and he still hadn't gotten tired of her snide comments, even if they were directed at him. He grabbed the brush lying close to the sink and ran it through his hair a couple of times, making sure that his hair was falling in the right way. It was, and he started to walk back into the bedroom, but something in the trash can caught his eye. It was a little white stick that he could have sworn hadn't been there yesterday. He picked it up and examined it carefully for a few seconds, but it didn't take very long for him to figure out what it was.

"Hey, Jade?" he called, a little confusion stuck in his voice. Why did she even need one of these?

"Ugh, what?" she snapped from the other room. She waited for a couple of seconds, but there was no response. Her eyebrows knitted together in agitation, and she sighed and started toward the bathroom. But she didn't get to go far, because Beck was walking back into the room with that little white stick that she had disposed of last night after he went to sleep.

"What is this?" he asked, although he already knew what the answer was.

Jade stared at the stick in his hand with wide eyes, and she bit her lip and tried to think of something to say. She hadn't planned on him finding that, and she didn't exactly want to tell him so soon. She had been waiting for the perfect time to tell him. But there was no going back now…

"A pregnancy test," she tried to say nonchalantly, but her voice was shaking.

Beck looked down at the device and saw a tiny pink plus sign staring right back at him. "It's positive," he said.

"Uh-huh," Jade replied, not meeting his eyes.

"So we're having a baby?"

"Uh-huh."

Beck stared at the device once more, and then he looked up at Jade. She had her arms crossed and was looking at the floor, acting as if the whole situation was really uncomfortable for her. It wasn't uncomfortable for Beck, though. To him, it was…exciting. Hundreds of thoughts were racing through his head, but it seemed like the most important was that he loved Jade so much, and now they were going to have a kid together. He smiled widely and ran over to her, engulfing her in a tight hug and kissing her lightly.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too."

Beck pulled away from her, still smiling a little too much, but he couldn't really help it. Jade didn't seem half as excited as he did, and she was staring at him like he was an idiot. "This is…awesome, Jade. When were you planning on telling me?"

"Whenever I felt like it," Jade replied, shrugging. "I just found out last night."

If Beck could have danced right then and there without looking stupid, he would have. But instead, he just grabbed Jade and pulled her into another hug. "I'm really excited," he said. "I mean, in nine months, we'll have a little baby that's all ours…wait, it's mine, right?"

Jade rolled her eyes and groaned. "No, Beck," she said sarcastically. "It's Robbie's."

"…wait, what?"

Jade opened her mouth to speak again, a thousand insults for him on the tip of her tongue, but she was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. "Beck, Jade! Hurry up! The dinner starts in an hour, and if we don't leave right now, we're gonna be late!" It was clearly Robbie yelling at them, and he started pounding on the door again.

"I can't wait to tell everybody at dinner," Beck said. He was still smiling, and no matter how much he tried to stop, he just couldn't.

"You're not telling anyone anything," Jade said as she checked her hair and make-up in the mirror one last time and another knock rang out. "I mean, I know it's kind of a big deal and all, but I don't want to steal Andre's thunder or whatever. But do keep it in mind, because it's pretty big news, and we might have to direct everyone's attention to something else. I don't know why, but I have this really weird feeling that something bad is gonna happen at the wedding…if there's a wedding at all."

"You guys! Come on! It takes a long time to drive across town!" Robbie sounded really impatient, and with a last dress check, Jade grabbed her purse and followed Beck out the door.

….

The rehearsal dinner was being held at a fancy restaurant on the other side of town called Prelude. The room was filled with people by the time that Beck, Jade, Robbie, and Cat showed up, most of the people they didn't even know. A few they recognized from their days at Hollywood Arts, and they even spotted Sikowitz on the other side of the room talking to Andre and Chelsea. They made their way over to the main table where Andre and Chelsea would be sitting, and Tori was already seated on the far end by herself, looking incredibly awkward surrounded by all of the people that she didn't know. Trina was talking to some music producers that seemed like they were trying to get rid of her, but she was completely oblivious to that.

"What goes on, Tori?" Robbie said as he sat down with the rest close to Tori.

Tori didn't reply immediately because she was looking around the room at all of the guests, mostly glancing over her shoulder at Andre and Chelsea. It was like she didn't even realize they were there. She finally came out of her trance, and she smiled when she saw Robbie and Cat sitting in front of her. "Hey, guys. What's up?" she said with a smile. She had had two days to tell Andre how she felt, but she just didn't see a time to tell him. This was her last chance. She had to tell him tonight. And that was the only thing she had on her mind.

"Is this all we're gonna be doing tonight?" Trina asked as she approached them with a disgusted look on her face. "I mean, no one just sits around and talks at a rehearsal dinner. I need a drink. Waiter!" she called out as she ran off after a man in a fancy suit carrying a silver tray of drinks.

Tori rolled her eyes at her sister and then glanced behind her again at Andre and Chelsea. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves before she got up from the table. There was a part of her that was telling her not to say anything to Andre at all. She would be destroying his happiness if she said anything…but didn't he have a right to know? She groaned inwardly and looked at Beck and Jade sitting next to her.

"You guys still think I should tell him?" she asked nervously.

"Totally," Jade replied. "I mean, he has a right to know, doesn't he? Besides, I don't like that Chelsea girl. She said I was unpleasant."

"Wait, wait, wait," Cat said, entering the conversation. "What's going on? Who is Tori telling what to?" She had a wide smile on her face, completely clueless of the whole situation, though it had been rather obvious to everyone else.

Tori glanced at Beck and Jade, and they both shrugged at her. She had known Cat for so long, and she was the closest thing that Tori had to a best friend besides Andre. She had to tell Cat everything. It wouldn't be right to keep it a secret from her and Robbie.

"Um…I was planning on telling Andre that I was still in love with him," she muttered almost inaudibly.

"Oh, yay! That's so exciting!" Cat exclaimed, clapping her hands happily. "I loved it when you guys were dating. You were both so happy, and happy is always good."

Yes!, Tori thought. At least she had Cat on her side. She nodded and smiled at her, and then she faced Robbie, who looked to be at a loss for words. She raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for some sort of response, but he still looked like he was struggling for something to say.

"Robbie?" she said.

"I don't think you should say anything to him," Robbie told her. "I mean, it's not fair to him. It's one day before his wedding, and if you told him that, it would just confuse him. He wouldn't know what to do about it, because he obviously loves Chelsea. Don't you know how many people you'd be hurting?"

Tori frowned. She hadn't been thinking about the cons of telling Andre how she felt. She hadn't thought of anything except how it would make her feel lighter and happier. She looked at Beck and Jade for support, and Jade rolled her eyes and said, "Don't worry about what Robbie thinks. His opinion doesn't matter anyway. Go ahead and tell him."

Tori nodded. Robbie's opinion on her actions had never bothered her in the past, why did it matter now? Robbie was just thinking way too into things, like he always did. He was just worrying about senseless things…right? Yes, he was.

"I'm going to tell him so that he can make an informed decision on what to do," she said, glaring at Robbie. She was right, not him.

She got up from the table and checked behind her again to see if Andre and Chelsea were still there. Chelsea had roamed over to the other side of the room, and Andre was still standing in the same spot talking to an older looking couple that Tori didn't recognize. That wasn't a big deal. She could just ask Andre to speak with him in private, and she would tell him. It would be quick and painless…

"Hey, Andre?" she said timidly as she approached them. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Hey, TV," Andre said, spinning around to face her with that warm smile of his that made Tori's heart melt. "What's up? Oh, wait. Before you say anything, let me introduce you to Chelsea's parents. Mr. and Mrs. Sanders, this is my friend Tori Vega." He gestured to the older couple that he had been speaking to, and they waved kindly at Tori.

"It's nice to meet you, Tori," Mrs. Sanders said. "Andre has said a lot about you. He said that you two used to perform shows together while in school. You're a singer, then?"

"Yes, ma'am," Tori answered with a fake smile. She just wanted to get this over with. She didn't have time to talk to anyone. "I really don't mean to be rude, but I need to talk to Andre about something."

"It's probably about the song she's singing tomorrow," Andre whispered so that no one could hear him except Tori and Chelsea's parents. "Don't tell Chelsea about it. She doesn't know yet. I'm gonna surprise her."

"Oh, we won't," Mrs. Sanders promised. "Oh, I'm so glad that you're the man that Chelsea chose to marry. I couldn't think of anyone better for her."

There was a pain in Tori's chest that had become all too familiar to her in the past few days, and she suddenly felt bad again for saying anything to Andre. But she knew that if she didn't say anything, she would regret it later. So with a wave and a "nice to meet you" to Chelsea's parents, she grabbed Andre's arm and pulled him aside just a few feet.

"Listen, Andre, I need to tell you something," she said. "I've been meaning to tell you this whole time, and I just couldn't find the time, and I just don't think I can put it off any longer. So…here it goes-"

"I will not let you do this to him!" came a cry from behind her, and before she could even turn around to see who it was, she was tackled to the ground by someone that she could only assume was Robbie. She screamed as she hit the floor and her legs got tangled with Robbie's. Andre was staring down at them in shock along with Chelsea's parents right behind him, and everyone else in the room was laughing, especially Cat, Beck, and Jade.

"Robbie! What are you doing?" she yelled as she shoved him off of her and pulled the bottom of her dress down. It had flown up sometime during the fall, and she was pretty sure that some people had gotten a little sneak peek of what was under the dress.

"I can't let you ruin this for him," Robbie said. "He's happy, Tori. And you should be happy for him."

Tori glared at him for a second more and then glanced up at Andre, who looked incredibly embarrassed by this point, and Chelsea's parents, who looked disgusted and horrified. She sighed and blew a strand of loose hair out of her face. Yeah, Robbie was right, not her. It had been too long since she and Andre had dated, and she just had to let it go and stop living in the past.

"I was just gonna say congratulations," she murmured before Robbie stood up and held out a hand to help her up. Her lower lip trembled as she grabbed his hand and got pulled to her feet. Not only was she devastated and confused, but now she was also completely humiliated.

"Um…why don't we eat now?" Andre suggested, which seemed to interest everyone in the room, and they completely forgot about the scene that had just unfolded before them.

…

"Um…excuse me," Beck said quietly as he stood up to make his best man speech, clinking his glass with a fork just loud enough to get everyone's attention. He failed, because no one even glanced in his direction except for his friends, and the whole room was still buzzing with unfinished conversations. "Can I have everyone's attention please?" Still, no one seemed to respond. "Jade, can you help me, please?"

Jade rolled her eyes and stood up. "HEY! Everybody shut up! I wanna eat so I can get the hell out of here!" Everyone stopped talking and stared at her like she was a monster, but nevertheless, they sat down at their tables and looked up at the main table very attentively. "You gotta be aggressive," Jade said as she looked at Beck and punched him in the arm. "It gets people's attention."

"Okay," Beck said with a small laugh as he rubbed the spot that Jade had punched. "So um…I'm Beck Oliver, the best man…yeah. So, this is the first time that I've ever been best man, and I didn't really know how to write a speech for it. But I was always told that the speech should be kind of like a woman's skirt: long enough to cover the subject and short enough to be interesting. Ha. Ha." No one in the room was laughing; they were all just staring at him like he was an idiot. Beck's eyes widened, and he leaned down to Jade, who looked almost horrified by his bad sense of humor. "You told me that was funny."

"No, you asked me if it was funny, and I told you that it was lame and you weren't funny," Jade said through gritted teeth. People were still staring at them.

"What? No, you told me it was funny."

"Well, I lied."

Beck stood up straight again and chuckled nervously. "Wow, it is really hot in here. Anyway, um…I first met Andre in our ninth grade improv class at Hollywood Arts, and-"

"Are you dating anyone?" a girl yelled from the back of the room.

Beck glanced at Jade, who looked like she was ready to get up from the table and attack the poor girl in the back of the room. "Um…yeah, I am. For eight years. Which means, that I met her close to the time when I met Andre in improv class at Hollywood Arts-"

"Ugh, nobody cares, Beck!" Jade groaned, laying her head on the table. "Just get through with the speech so we can eat and I can leave!"

Beck rolled his eyes and held up his empty champagne glass. "Fine, congratulations to Andre and Chelsea. Long and happy life together…yeah." Everyone else in the room held up their glasses to a toast, and some clapped awkwardly. "I'm gonna go get drunk now," Beck said as he pushed his chair in and walked away.

Andre looked at Jade in disbelief, and she returned the look to him. It was the worst thing that they had ever heard, and Andre had already been incredibly embarrassed by four of his friends tonight. If Cat and Trina found a way to embarrass him, he'd be screwed.

…

Cat and Trina_ did_ manage to embarrass him. Trina had had so many drinks that she was stumbling and hiccupping all over the place. Even though she couldn't see anything in front of her, she still managed to get to the corner of the room and have another drink.

"Hey, Trina!" Cat said, waving at her. "How are you tonight? Having fun?"

Somewhere between Trina's drunken slurs and Cat's giggles, they ended up dueting "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred. Cat seemed to be enjoying herself, although halfway through the song, Trina passed out, and Tori had to take her home. Andre was avoiding all of them by this time, so Cat decided that she would go hang out with Robbie. He was all alone and drinking some champagne, and he looked really sad. Cat didn't like people being sad.

"Hey, Robbie. Why the long face?" she asked as she sat down next to him.

Robbie took another gulp of his champagne and looked at her. His eyes were a little unfocused, but he didn't seem to be as drunk as Trina. "Oh, you know. Just catching the wedding fever, I guess. Feeling sorry for myself. I've only dated one girl since I got out of school, and she didn't stick around very long. I just don't think I'm ever gonna be able to have this kind of party or anything for me, you know? Nobody's ever gonna marry me."

Cat frowned and looked down at the floor, starting to shuffle her feet nervously. "That's not true, Robbie. Somebody's gonna wanna marry you someday. It's just not the right time yet. It's fate, you know. And you just haven't met your soulmate yet." She paused and waited for him to say something, but he didn't. He just kept drinking. "Well, who wouldn't want to be with you? You're funny, and you're nice, and you're super respectful, and you're talented, and you'd make a great husband."

"You really think that?" Robbie asked, looking at her in interest. "I mean, really?" Cat nodded and smiled at him. He felt better now that she was with him. Cat always seemed to make him feel better when he was down. "This party kind of sucks, huh? I mean, I guess it's not Andre's fault. I just wanna get out of here."

"Me too," Cat said, sighing loudly as she began to play with her hair.

Robbie frowned as he thought of something else he could say to her. She was so innocent and lovely, and he had always thought something was special with her. She made him feel like no other girl did, but it was probably just because they were such close friends. He didn't have feelings for her…right?

"Hey, Cat?" he said. She looked at him again, an innocent smile playing on her lips. "Do you uh…you wanna go back to the hotel and…I don't know…watch a movie or something in my room?"

"Oh, yay!" Cat exclaimed. "Sounds like fun! But I get to pick the movie." Robbie smiled and agreed, and she grabbed his hand and jerked him off his seat, dragging him toward the door.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! Last chapter until I go to Orlando for a week. Unless I can whip up something in the next day, but no promises. Reviews are welcome. (:**

Andre woke up early the next morning, too excited to sleep. He ate breakfast, which was only a piece of toast since he was way too eager to eat, and then he attempted to watch a movie on TV. When Chelsea woke up and came into the living room, Andre barely had any time to greet her before she got dressed and headed down to the church to get started on her hair and make-up. Andre didn't need that much time to get ready, so he continued to watch TV for a little while more before he decided that he couldn't keep his mind on it. He had to share his excitement with someone else, or he was going to explode. So without much thought, Andre got in his SUV and drove to the hotel, running quickly through the doors and rushing up to the fourth floor. He banged on the door of Robbie's hotel room, although he doubted that he was awake, and he was surprised when the door actually opened and Robbie was standing there in a robe.

"I'm getting married today!" Andre exclaimed as he darted into the room. "Yes! I never thought I'd be the first one in our group to get married."

"Yeah, me neither," Robbie said honestly, shrugging. "Always thought it'd be Beck and Jade."

"Yeah, well, it's not!" Andre shouted as he dashed over to Robbie and hugged him tightly before running out of the room toward Beck and Jade's hotel room.

Robbie sighed and walked into the bathroom, which was filled with steam from the shower. He moved over to the mirror and wiped away some of the steam, and he heard a high-pitched scream from behind him. He jumped and saw that Cat was standing there with a towel around her, her hair wet and sticking to her skin.

"Can you knock?" she asked as she grabbed his arm and tried to throw him out of the bathroom.

"Yeah, but I don't see what the big deal is," Robbie said, resisting her tiny hand around his wrist. "I saw you naked last night. It's not any different now."

"Yeah, about that…" Cat hesitated on telling him what had been going through her mind all morning. She had made a mistake. She and Robbie were both being affected in a negative way by the wedding, and they were just there to comfort each other. It was nothing serious, and she didn't want it to turn into anything serious. It would ruin their friendship. "I don't think last night should have happened. It was a mistake. I'm sorry, Robbie." She patted his arm consolingly and smiled a little, hoping that he would agree with her.

Robbie was hurt by the words, but he wasn't going to let her know that. "Yeah, you're right. It was a mistake."

Cat nodded and frowned at him. "Right…so I'll get dressed and go to my room to get ready, and I'll see you at the wedding."

"Right…" Robbie muttered, not meeting her eyes. He waited for a second to see if she would say anything else, but when she didn't, he walked out of the bathroom and shut the door.

…

Tori walked into the church at around 6:30, smoothing her short blue dress a little and searching around for any of her friends. She hadn't gotten to say anything that she wanted to say before the wedding, and she hadn't slept at all last night. Thirty minutes was all that she had left, and she had to do it before Robbie got there. The last thing she needed was to get tackled down again.

"Tori!" Trina exclaimed as she rushed into the church, her high heels clacking loudly and attracting a lot of attention. "Tori, Andre's getting married in half an hour. You have to do something!"

"Really?" Tori said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Well, there's nothing I can do, is there, Trina? I have no idea where he is, and Robbie could pop out from somewhere like a ninja or something-"

"I'll distract your friends, and you go find Andre," Trina said, smirking a little and patting Tori on the head. "You can't let him get married without knowing how you feel about him."

Tori nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I'm gonna go find him right now. And…kill Robbie if he comes after me." Trina smiled like the idea of murdering Robbie made her incredibly happy, and she agreed and pushed Tori away.

There were so many people in the tiny church, and Tori could barely move through the big groups. But she wasn't going to let those people in her way. She now had twenty minutes, and she wasn't going to let the chance slip away. She hurried into every available room in the long, narrow hallways of the church, and she couldn't find Andre anywhere. It was like he wasn't even there. Maybe he had decided to blow off the wedding…maybe he didn't care about Chelsea as much as she thought he did.

"Have you seen Andre?" she asked everyone that she came across, and every single "no" that she got in return made her more and more anxious. With ten minutes left to go before the wedding started, Tori was starting to feel really, really sick. When she thought about just giving up, she looked up just in time to see Andre standing at the end of the hallway talking to Chelsea's dad. It was now or never. She checked around for Robbie just in case, and when she didn't see him anywhere, she made a mad dash down the hallway toward Andre.

"Hey, Tori? Can I ask you something?" Tori turned around and saw Beck standing there holding a tiny jewelry box in his hands. She didn't care what was in it, nor did she have the time to figure it out even if she did care.

"WHAT, BECK? WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT?" she yelled, which made the few people in the hallway look in her direction.

Beck stared at her in astonishment for a second before he shoved the jewelry box in his pocket and sighed. "Never mind. You're being mean today."

Tori groaned and stomped her foot a little. "Beck, I have to talk to Andre. I haven't told him anything, and I now have like…six minutes to say something to him."

"Oh," Beck said, glancing down the hallway at Andre. "Well, go tell him. Although, if he calls off the wedding at the last minute, a lot of people are going to be really mad."

Tori stared at him in disbelief as she crossed her arms, thinking of something to say to him. He was right. She was about to cause a lot of trouble…but she didn't care. She had been doing things for other people her whole life. It was time to take a chance and do something to help herself. So instead of saying anything to him, she just rolled her eyes and stomped off down the hallway toward Andre.

Four minutes left. Chelsea's dad was still standing there, but as soon as Tori walked up, he looked at her like she was an idiot and walked down the hallway, away from her. "Andre, this is very serious, okay? I was trying to tell you last night, but Robbie tackled me, and I just couldn't say anything with everybody staring at me, and I have to tell you now before you get married because if you don't know, then-"

"Places, everyone!" a lady yelled as she ran down the hallway clapping her hands at everyone who was involved in the wedding ceremony.

"Don't worry about the song, okay?" Andre said consolingly, patting Tori on the arm and smiling. "Everyone'll love it. Why don't you go sit down? I'll see you right after the ceremony, alright?"

Tori sighed as the lady ran by again causing a huge uproar, and when she saw Chelsea come out into the hallway looking more radiant and beautiful than most celebrities on their wedding day, she walked into the sanctuary feeling like a huge weight was on her shoulders now. She sat down next to Trina, who was being obnoxious and checking her teeth in a small, compact mirror.

"I held Robbie for you," she whispered, although the whisper seemed to be echoing throughout the filled sanctuary. "So did you tell Andre that you loved him?"

"Trina! Shut up!" Tori said through gritted teeth. She looked up and saw that the wedding was about to start. Some last-minute guests were scrambling into their seats, including Jade, who was holding a video camera; and then the loud organ music began, signaling the entrance of the wedding party.

Tori noticed Andre's mom as she was walked down the aisle and seated, closely followed by Chelsea's mom that she had met last night. The minister came next, followed by Andre. The groomsmen came next, three of them she didn't recognize, but one of them was Robbie, so she smiled and waved at him. He was escorting one of the bridesmaids, just like the other groomsmen were. Next came Beck escorting the maid of honor, who just so happened to be that girl who hit on him last night. Jade didn't look very happy about that. Then came the tiny ring bearer followed by two adorable flower girls, and then came Chelsea, looking too beautiful for her own good. Everyone stood up as she entered, and Tori rolled her eyes and did so as well, although she wasn't very happy about it.

When they were allowed to sit back down again, Trina leaned over to Tori and said, "Wow, she looks really pretty, huh?"

Tori glared at her, and she felt like the weight on her shoulders was just getting heavier and heavier. She was getting a little lightheaded as well, and she started to feel dizzy when the minister started speaking. This was it. Andre was getting married to some girl that Tori barely even knew, and she would be stuck in misery for the rest of her life.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…"

Tori zoned out. She didn't want to be here anymore, and she debated with herself on whether or not it would be noticeable if she just got up and left. Andre would surely notice, and she didn't want him to think that she was being rude. She would just have to endure the pain for him.

"Chelsea, can you please repeat after me…"

Chelsea was smiling widely while she was repeating after the minister. Tori crossed her arms and huffed loudly, wishing that she could look that angelic. It must have taken Chelsea hours to look that perfect, and Tori would never be able to look like that.

"And now, Andre, can you please repeat after me?" the minister said, and Tori gulped down all of her self-pitying feelings and watched him intently. "I, Andre…"

"I, Andre…"

"Take thee, Chelsea…"

"Take thee, Tori…"

There was an audible gasp from around the room, and Tori's eyes widened as the few people she did know turned her way and stared at her. She bit her lip and glanced at Chelsea, who looked like she had just been punched in the face; and then at Andre, who looked just about as shocked.

"Chelsea. Take thee, Chelsea," he tried to recover from his mistake.

Tori heard Jade laugh from three seats down, and then everyone started to look at Jade. She was the _only one _that found this amusing. Everyone else looked like they were going to be sick.

"I am _so glad_ that I decided to videotape this," Jade said, still laughing.

"Jade, turn off the camera," Beck said through gritted teeth from the stage.

"No way, Beck, this is awesome."

As they continued to argue and everyone else in the room started to whisper to each other, the minister tapped loudly on his Bible to get everyone's attention back. After several seconds, everyone quieted down and looked back up at the stage. "Shall I start again?" the minister asked Chelsea, who still looked completely appalled, but she nodded anyway.

"No, I only said Tori because she was supposed to sing for you, Chels. It was a surprise, and I…Tori, can you come and sing now?" Andre asked, looking out into the audience with hopeful eyes.

Tori gulped as everyone's eyes fell on her again and Trina said, "I told you he still loves you, Tor." That didn't make her feel any better. She got up on shaky legs and walked up to the front of the church, everyone's stares boring into her as she grabbed the microphone and cast a nervous glance at Andre and Chelsea. Andre returned a pleading look to her, and Chelsea was glaring at her.

"What if I told you it was all meant to be," Tori sang as the music began. "Would you believe me, would you agree? It's almost that feeling that we've met before. So tell me that you don't think I'm crazy when I tell you love has come here and now. A moment like this, some people wait a lifetime, for a moment like this-"

"Can we get back to the ceremony, please?" Chelsea asked, as if Tori hadn't even walked on stage and sang part of a song for them.

Someone cut the music off, and Tori awkwardly put the microphone back on the stand before returning to her seat with everyone still staring at her.

The rest of the ceremony was the most terrible thing that Tori had ever seen. She hid her face in her hands for the most part, especially when the minister told Andre that he may kiss the bride. Not because she didn't want to see him kiss another girl, but because she couldn't stand seeing her best friend humiliate himself so badly. She was grateful when the happy exit music started to play, and all of the wedding party exited before the rest of the guests. Andre was married now, but Tori had a feeling that it wouldn't last very long.

"That was so great," Jade said as she shut off the camera and stuffed it in her purse. "And now I have it on camera, so we can watch it over and over again."

"That was so awful," Cat said miserably, looking down at the floor and poking her lower lip out into a pout. "I feel so bad for him. But I'm happy for you, Tori." She smiled and walked out of the sanctuary, followed closely by Trina.

"Wow, you weren't even really involved in the wedding ceremony, and you still managed to screw things up for him," Jade said as she passed by Tori and smirked. "I'm sure you feel so proud of yourself."

As Tori watched Jade walk out of the sanctuary, she groaned loudly and picked up her purse. No, she wasn't proud or happy or anything that she thought she was going to feel at this point. She felt like she was going to be sick.

….

The reception was held in the fellowship hall, but none of Tori's friends were in there when she walked in. She couldn't bear to stay in that room with all those people staring at her, so she went in search of them and found them all standing in the hallway listening in to a conversation going on in the room right next to them.

"I can't believe you! How could you do this to me? This is the most embarrassing thing that could have happened today! And it's going to be all over the news tomorrow. The whole world is going to know what you did to me!"

Tori cringed as she heard Chelsea's voice ringing out loudly from behind the closed door. She glanced at Cat and Robbie, who were standing several feet apart and looking horrified by the argument from beyond; at Trina, who was gnawing on a piece of chicken and looking uninterested in the whole ordeal; at Beck, who seemed indifferent about the whole thing; and Jade, who was still laughing about it all.

"See, I told you that something bad was going to happen at the wedding," Jade said to Beck.

Without warning, the door flew open, and Andre emerged looking absolutely distressed. "Oh, hey guys," he said calmly, even though nothing about him seemed calm. "She's just gonna fix her hair, and then she'll be right out." Without another word, he walked past them and into the fellowship hall where everyone was awaiting him with questions.

Tori sighed as she watched all of his music producer friends bombarding him, and she started to feel really sorry for him. For some reason, she felt like this whole thing was her fault, even though it was Andre who had said her name instead of Chelsea's. "I wonder why he said my name," she thought out loud. "I'm sure it was only because I was the last person he talked to before the ceremony began. He doesn't still care about me like that."

"Uh, yeah, he does," Trina said, rolling her eyes. "That's been obvious since day one. You can't honestly tell me he actually cares about Chelsea more than you, can you?"

Tori tilted her head to the side in thought, and then she whirled around to face all of her friends again. "I think I need to go talk to him. Do you guys still think I need to talk to him?"

All of them exchanged nervous glances, and Tori rolled her eyes. She didn't need any of them to speak for her to know that they had all completely changed their minds. But it wasn't their choice, it was hers. So she was going to do what she wanted and not care what any of her friends had to say about it. Without letting any of them say anything to her, she turned around and stalked away into the fellowship hall where Andre was standing with a few of his musical friends.

"Andre, can I please talk to you now?" she asked as she grabbed his arm and dragged him away from everyone. They were all staring at her like she was the most horrible person in the world. "I never had to talk to you about that damn song. It was always about something else." She sighed and crossed her arms, not wanting to look in his eyes when she spoke. "Why did you say my name up there?"

Andre took a very audible breath in and looked like he would want nothing more than to just disappear. "I um…I don't know, Tor. It was weird. I mean, I wasn't thinking about you or anything…I was focused on the wedding. Maybe it was because you were the last person I talked to before the ceremony started."

"That's what I thought!" Tori exclaimed, sounding much happier than what she felt inside. Well, at least she knew now that they were on the same mindset. "See, it's not because you have any lingering feelings for me or anything. That's what Trina thought, but…well, you know Trina."

"Right," Andre said with a light chuckle. "No leftover feelings or anything. You're just my friend, Tori. I wish that I could convince Chelsea of that, but she seems to think that something's going on between us."

Tori groaned, mostly because she was starting to feel more and more like a tramp by the second. "I'll tell her that there's nothing going on between us if you want me to. I don't know if she'll believe me, but I can try."

"No, don't worry about it," Andre said, placing his hand on her shoulder. Tori hoped that he didn't notice she was getting goose bumps. "I'll handle it. You just go dance and eat and have a good time. I'm gonna go talk to a few more people, perhaps apologize to Chelsea's parents, you know…"

Tori nodded and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down as he walked away. She put on a fake smile and tried to act like nothing was wrong, even though it felt like there was a huge explosion going on inside of her body. She couldn't handle the stares and whispers anymore, and she had to get out. So she just clenched her fists, smiled even wider, and walked toward the door, passing Cat and Robbie on the way.

Cat and Robbie were still avoiding any kind of eye contact or anything with each other. Robbie was drinking champagne, as he always did when he was put in an awkward situation, and Cat was standing a few feet away from him with her arms crossed tightly across her chest. Occasionally they would glance up at each other, and once they happened to look up at the same time. They both quickly looked back down as if the other wasn't even there.

"You know, I would ask you to dance, but you might say that was a mistake too," Robbie said as he took another gulp of the champagne and watched the few couples that were dancing.

Cat sighed angrily and uncrossed her arms as she turned to him. "Robbie, you know that last night was a mistake. We've always been really close friends, and just because we've been apart for five years doesn't mean we can go around sleeping with each other now. It's just wrong."

There was a pause, and Cat wondered if Robbie was going to say anything to her. Her anger was starting to disappear now, but she still wished that he would retaliate in some way. She didn't want to fight, but she did want to know that he was okay.

"But you had fun, didn't you?" he finally asked.

Cat gasped and placed her hand over her heart as if she was utterly offended by the question. Robbie was wearing a cocky smirk on his face that she had never seen on him before, and she was at a loss for words. She stuttered a little bit, trying to come up with something to say, and the more she stared at Robbie, the stupider she felt. She frowned and looked away from him as she said, "Well, yeah. But that doesn't mean it was right, and it should never happen again."

Robbie grinned some more and drank some more champagne. The party seemed to be getting better now as everyone started to drink and forget all about the events of the ceremony. "I had fun too, you know," he said, not looking in her direction, although from the corner of his eye he could see that she was smiling just a little bit. He started to walk away from her and just forget that anything had ever happened between them, but then for some reason he felt like this whole thing wasn't just a one night stand. No, he and Cat were much more than that, and he wasn't leaving their relationship at the place it was at now. "So…I'll meet you again tonight?" he asked.

Cat hesitated as she began to shuffle her feet nervously, and then she said, "See you in my room in two hours."

"Awesome," Robbie replied as he walked away from her to look for Andre. He hadn't seen him since he came running out of the room from arguing with Chelsea.

"You guys!" Trina exclaimed as she ran into the room. She looked horrorstruck, and her hair was all over the place. She looked like she had just seen a ghost. "Andre!" Everyone was looking at her now, but she didn't care. She fought her way through the crowd to Andre, who was sitting at a table by himself looking absolutely miserable. "Andre…Chelsea's gone."


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! Guess who's back? Haha. I had a great time on vacation, but I did miss writing this fanfiction while I was there. And I missed all of my lovely reviewers. I was planning on having this up as soon as I got back Saturday night, but I was tired and I fell asleep. Sorry about that. But here it is. And I hope you all enjoy. Leave a review. (:**

Tori couldn't fall asleep until about four in the morning, when she was too exhausted to think about the day's events anymore. She slept soundly, filled with dreams of Andre saying her name instead of Chelsea's, but for some reason, those dreams always turned into nightmares. Tori felt awful that Chelsea had to go through so much pain because of one simple little mistake.

She was awoken at seven in the morning by the house phone ringing loudly in her ear. She groaned and let it ring as she shut her eyes and tried to fall back asleep, but her eyes flew open again when Trina called out, "Tori, answer the phone!"

"No, Trina! I'm trying to sleep!" Tori yelled back. She listened for a response, but there was none, and the phone continued to ring. Tori groaned again and picked up the phone, grumbling a sleepy "hello?" to whoever was on the other line.

"Tori! Turn it on the news! Somebody let out a video of the wedding!" Andre's urgent voice shouted from the other side.

Tori yawned and rubbed her eyes, trying to wake herself up and process the information that she was receiving. "Hey, Andre. Trina said you guys were out until past midnight looking for Chelsea. Did you ever find her?"

"No, and her parents won't tell me where she's at either," Andre replied. "Now turn it on the news. You're on there too."

Tori's eyes widened as she scrambled out of bed and ran downstairs to the living room, where her parents were sitting on the couch and watching a TV show over their morning coffee. With the phone still pressed to her ear, Tori grabbed the remote out of her father's hand and flipped over to the local news channel, where she caught the very end of the news report on Andre's wedding.

"…and it is rumored that Chelsea Sanders has gone into hiding after yesterday's events. It is still in question as to whether or not Andre Harris was in a secret relationship with ex-girlfriend, Tori Vega-"

Before the news reporter could finish, Tori turned off the television and looked at her parents in horror. Trina came walking into the room, apparently standing at the top of the stairs through the news report, and stared at Tori in absolute shock.

"Who could've given all of that information to the news?" she asked.

Tori shrugged and looked at her parents, who were looking up at her sympathetically from their spots on the couch. "I'm so sorry, Andre," she said, running a hand through her hair and sighing. "I wish that the wedding could have just…gone smoothly, you know? Then you would be on your honeymoon right now and not on the phone with me watching yourself screw up on TV."

There was a pause before Andre spoke again. "I don't mind being on the phone with you, Tor. I'm actually calmer now than I have been in several hours. Can you meet Beck, Jade, Cat, Robbie, and I for breakfast at the hotel in half an hour? We can talk about it there."

"Sure," Tori replied, although her eyes were drooping and she would have liked nothing better than to go back to sleep. But Andre came first, and she knew that he was in a lot of pain right now. She hung up the phone with a small smile and rushed upstairs to get changed.

…

Robbie groaned as the alarm clock next to the bed started to ring out loudly, signaling him that it was time to get up. His fingers traced the edge of the nightstand, searching blindly for the button to turn the noise off, and when he finally found it, he yawned and rolled over to face the girl lying next to him in bed.

"Time to get up, Cat," he said drowsily, shaking her slightly until her eyelids fluttered open and her big brown eyes were staring up at him.

She was smiling in content as she flipped over and curled up against his arm, but then it was as if someone had thrown a brick at her. She bolted upright in bed suddenly and glanced over at Robbie with wide, horrorstruck eyes. "Why did we let that happen again?" she screamed. She scrambled around in the sheets as if she was stuck and couldn't get out, and then as soon as she freed herself, she turned to Robbie and said, "Don't look at me while I'm getting dressed."

"I wasn't planning on it," Robbie said as he rolled over onto his side so that he was facing the wall opposite of Cat. At first, he had believed that his and Cat's relationship was innocent and it had no chance of ruining the friendship that they had built up after so many years, but now he knew why Cat was so distraught. They were very close friends, and if they let this continue on, something was sure to go wrong. Of course, there was a simple solution to the problem. They could try to date, because Robbie knew that they loved each other. He just wasn't sure if they could ever be _in love_ with each other.

"Andre texted me," Cat told him once she had gotten her clothes on. "He wants us to meet him downstairs for breakfast in a few minutes." She paused to lay her phone down and walk over to the mirror on the other side of the room. As she started to comb through her hair with her fingers, making sure that she looked alright to go down to breakfast, she glanced up and saw Robbie in the mirror getting out of bed with no clothes on. She let out a high-pitched scream and ran out of the room, shielding her eyes and shouting something about "not warning her about that."

She was halfway to her hotel room when she turned back around and went back to Robbie's room. She knocked on the door, covering her eyes once again just in case. When the door opened a few seconds later, she moved two of her fingers just enough to allow her to peek out, and said, "Don't tell anyone about this, alright?" With that, she walked away, leaving Robbie standing in the doorway half-dressed.

"I wasn't planning on it!" he called after her.

...

Tori walked into the hotel half an hour later as she said that she would, and she was about to boil over in annoyance. Her sister had driven her there, and the whole ride, Trina only talked about how "in love" Andre was with Tori and how someday their romance was going to be made into a movie. When questioned about this ridiculous prospect, Trina said that she would write the script and perhaps be the star of the movie. Tori was seeing more and more of the sister she left behind every day.

"We couldn't find Chelsea anywhere last night, Tori!" Trina exclaimed as she darted through the door after her sister. "And Andre's not going to deal with that much longer. You have to tell him today how you feel."

Tori rolled her eyes and continued walking, not slowing down despite Trina's whining from behind her. "It's over, Trina. He's married. _Married_. There's no point in saying anything now."

"Tori, are you crazy? He's still totally in love with you, and you know it! And you love him too. Please tell him? For me?"

Tori grimaced and stopped just long enough to face Trina. "For you? You have absolutely nothing to do with this." Trina frowned and looked down at the floor sadly as if she had just been scolded, and Tori sighed. "Fine, I'll tell him. But it's because it's eating me alive inside not saying anything to him. It's not for you."

By this time, they had reached the small dining room in the hotel that was occupied by several guests. She spotted the group on the far left side of the room at a large, round table. Cat was staring dreamily at the ceiling, absorbed in her own thoughts, while Robbie was looking in her direction sort of nervously. They had been acting strange ever since the rehearsal dinner. Beck and Jade were talking in hushed tones, as they always were when they were with the rest of the group. It was as if they were in their own bubble most of the time. Andre was at the head of the table staring intently at his phone in front of him as if he was expecting a very important call, which he probably was. Tori smiled and sat down next to him, and Trina sat down next to her.

"Hey, Tori," Andre said, still staring at his phone. "I'm just waiting on a call from Chelsea. I called her and left her a message telling her to meet us here for breakfast. I don't know if she'll come or not…" He finally tore his eyes away long enough to look up at Tori, and he smiled warmly. "Hope you're hungry. It's a buffet."

Tori shook her head. "No, I'm not really hungry. But actually, I was wondering if I can talk to you in private. I know I've been asking you that a lot, but I have something really important to tell you."

Andre nodded. "Sure, but let me go get breakfast first. We were just waiting on you to get here before we started eating." He patted her hand and grinned again before getting up from the table with everyone except for Beck.

Tori took in a deep breath and watched Andre for a few seconds, thinking about how she was supposed to finally tell him how she truly felt. It was going to be difficult, especially with all of the stress of Chelsea going missing boring down on Andre. She shook her head a little, ridding herself of the thoughts, and looked up just in time to see Beck sitting down in the chair next to her.

"Hey, Beck," she said, trying to sound enthusiastic. If it wasn't for Andre, she wouldn't be here right now. And she really didn't want to be here.

"I see you're in a better mood today," Beck said. "So there was something I was trying to show you yesterday, but I didn't have time. Tell me how this makes you feel." He dug in his pocket until he pulled out a small jewelry box that Tori recognized from yesterday. She sighed and looked up nervously to make sure that no one was coming, and when she looked back down, she gasped.

Inside the box was a tiny white gold ring with a cluster of diamonds in the middle and on the band. "Beck, this is the most beautiful ring I've ever seen," she said, picking it up to examine it further. And then a realization hit her. "This is an engagement ring."

"Yeah," Beck replied, taking it back from her and putting it back in the box. "I got it the other day. I don't have a lot of money, you know, but I figured this was worth spending money on. It wasn't the most expensive they had, but it wasn't very cheap either." He paused for a moment to observe the ring, and then he looked back up at Tori. "Am I stupid for doing this?"

"No," Tori answered, shaking her head. "I think it's very romantic. I mean, you and Jade have been together for so long. And you love her. I think you should do it. And she'll love it." She smiled a genuine smile this time, because for once in the past two days, she was truly happy for one of her friends.

"Thanks," Beck said. "You know, I've asked her to marry me five times, and she's said no every time. She hates the idea of marriage for some reason, but she won't tell me why. Something to do with her dad, I bet. He ran out on her mom." He paused, contemplating if he should even be talking to Tori about all of this, but then he went on. "This is the first time I'll actually have a ring to give to her. The other times, I just couldn't afford it. Maybe this time, she'll change her mind."

"Maybe," Tori responded, although she was almost off in another world now. She was imagining the day that someone she loved would ask her to marry him.

Beck didn't seem to notice that she wasn't really listening. "Yeah, I think she's still worried that something's going to happen and we're not going to be together. I've promised her that I would never leave, but it's like she doesn't believe me." Once again, he paused. "You know, a couple of years ago, we got into a huge fight, worse than we've ever had. And she left. Didn't come back for three weeks, and when she did, she told me she had checked herself into the hospital for clinical depression. I mean, I knew she was upset and she was taking medication for it, but I never knew it was that bad. She's doing a whole lot better now, and I think it's about time to try again. We need each other now more than we ever have."

Tori was still trying to process all of the information that had just been thrown at her. She picked up the glass of water that had been in front of her when she got there, and she drank almost all of it in one gulp. Her throat was going dry. She hated talking about marriage, and she hated knowing that Beck and Jade were in the same state that she was in. "I think you should do it," she said. "I mean, I know Jade's kind of hard to convince, but she can only say no so many times. Besides, she loves you, and you love her. I think it's about time you two get married."

"Thanks, Tori," Beck said, patting her hand lightly in a sort of appreciative gesture. "I'm gonna go eat now. Don't say anything to anyone about this, okay?"

Tori nodded and watched as he got up to get in the breakfast line. She picked up her glass of water and drank the little remaining and almost spilled it all over herself when Jade slammed her plate on the other side of the table angrily and asked, "What were you and Beck talking about?"

Tori's eyes widened, and she knew that if she lied, Jade would be able to see right through her. Somehow, Jade could always tell when someone was lying. So she changed the subject. "That's a lot of food you got on your plate there."

Jade looked up at Tori like she had just insulted her greatly, but she recovered quickly and said, "I'm hungry." She refused to tell anyone that she was eating for two now. "So what were you and Beck talking about?"

Tori groaned. She should have known that Jade couldn't be diverted. "We were just…we were just talking about…how do you feel about marriage?"

"It's stupid," Jade replied immediately, and she looked up at Tori in suspicion.

Tori mentally kicked herself; she should have said something about puppies, or…something not related to getting married. "Stupid? Wh-why would you say that?" She put on her best innocent smile, but even her best was not enough to fool Jade.

"He's going to propose again, isn't he?" Jade asked, an almost cruel smile beginning to form on her face.

"No," Tori answered too quickly, and she knew that she had given it away. "I um…no. Not at all." She looked around the room, searching for an excuse to get out of this awkward situation, and she silently thanked God when she saw Andre walking back over to the table. "Andre, can we talk now? It's important." Before Andre could answer or even sit down at the table, she grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the other side of the room. She didn't want her friends anywhere around for this conversation.

"What's up?" Andre asked once they had gotten seated at the other table.

Tori bit her lip nervously, trying to think of what she was supposed to say, and she looked over at her friends, hoping that someone could guide her through this. Trina was looking in their direction, and she was giving her a very obvious thumbs-up and a wink. She frowned and flailed her arms a little, trying to get Trina to stop, and when she turned back to Andre, he was staring at her like she was an idiot.

"Sorry," she said. "Um…I was just…look, if I don't say this soon, I won't say it at all. It's been killing me ever since I got here, and I think the best thing to do is to just say it and get it over with." She took a deep breath, trying to prepare herself for what she was attempting to say. It was on the tip of her tongue, but it just wouldn't come out, no matter how much she forced it.

Thankfully, she was spared some time because Andre started laughing about something. Her confused, pained face slowly turned relaxed again, and she smiled. "What? What's funny?"

"I was just thinking about our first date," Andre said. "That was a disaster, huh?"

Tori's smile only grew wider as she recalled her and Andre's first date. Andre was not into all of that cliché stuff, so instead of a typical dinner and a movie first date, they went to a water park. Tori wasn't the best of swimmers, but she didn't want to turn down the offer because Andre seemed to be rather excited for it. At the end of the day when they visited the wave pool, Tori got pulled out to the deep end of the pool, and…well, she couldn't swim.

"Sorry about that," she said. "It was scary at the time, but it's pretty funny now. Thanks for saving me, by the way. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't be here right now."

"…Tori, the pool was like, six feet deep."

Tori frowned at him. She no longer found this very amusing. "Yeah, but still. I could have died. Sorry about cutting the date short by almost drowning."

"Sorry about losing my swim trunks on the water slide."

Tori laughed. She had completely forgotten all about their first date, and now that they were talking about it, it seemed like it had only happened yesterday. "All is forgiven," she said. Now was the time. She had to tell him that she loved him. "Andre, I-" She stopped when she saw Andre staring at something behind her, looking completely horrified. She frowned and tilted her head to the side in confusion, but he didn't seem to be paying attention to her.

"Chelsea," he muttered nervously.

Tori's eyes widened, and she slowly turned around to see that indeed, Chelsea was standing right behind her. Chelsea's lips were pursed into a thin line, and her eyes held questions that she couldn't ask. She looked as if she had just rolled out of bed, but she still looked remarkably beautiful, and Tori once again felt jealous of the girl.

"No no," Andre said, when he saw Chelsea's eyes flit over to Tori and then back at him. "No, we were just talking. Nothing more. Come and sit down. Eat breakfast with us." He got up and started to move over to the big table where all of his friends were waiting with anxious eyes, but Chelsea stopped him.

"Yes, just talking," she said bitterly. "You were talking about your first date with her the day after you said _her_ name at _our _wedding. I hate you!" With that, she stormed out of the breakfast room loudly, causing a huge scene that made everyone in the room go completely quiet.

"Chelsea, wait!" Andre yelled. He cast a glance at Tori for only a split second, and then he ran out of the room after his wife.

* * *

><p><strong>For anybody who cares, I have a link on my profile of the engagement ring that Beck is giving Jade. Just if anyone is curious...<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**Wow, this chapter was not meant to be this long. Sorry. I had fun writing it, though. I think this is what the Tandre fans have been waiting for, but I won't say anything else. ;) Read on, and leave a review. (:**

_We're gonna start by drinking old cheap bottles of wine, sit talking up all night, saying things we haven't for a while…_

The words rang out from the radio sitting on the nightstand in Beck and Jade's hotel room. It was their last day in Los Angeles, and Beck was making sure that all of the luggage was packed and ready to go while Jade was standing in front of the mirror making sure that she looked alright before going to the airport. Beck was singing the words to the song under his breath as he examined the room, double-checking that they weren't leaving anything, and then he slowly walked over to Jade and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"She's in line at the door with her head held high," he sang softly against her shoulder. "While I just lost my job but didn't lose my pride."

Jade smiled a little and placed her hand over his gently, and she continued the song. "But we both know how, how we're gonna make it work when it hurts, when you pick yourself up, you get kicked to the dirt."

Beck spun her around so that she was now facing him, and his arms found their way around her waist again as he started to sway in time to the music. Jade leaned her head against his chest, smiling once again in contentment, and before she knew it, Beck was spinning her again. She laughed as they continued to dance, because no matter how many times they practiced, neither of them could dance to save their life. He carried on singing the song to her, which she found oddly comforting, and when the song reached the end, he dipped her without warning and kissed her passionately.

When he pulled away from her, she asked, "Can I see it?"

Beck pulled her out of the dip and looked at her in confusion. "See what?"

"My ring," Jade answered, as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.

"How did you know about-"

Jade rolled her eyes. "Tori told me. Well, I guessed. Don't worry, it wasn't intentional. She just sucks at lying. So can I see it?"

Beck sighed. He had been planning on proposing to her as soon as they got back to New York. But now that the secret was out, there was no sense in trying to hide it from her. He frowned and pulled the jewelry box out of his pocket, handing it over to Jade reluctantly.

When Jade first opened the box, she looked completely unaffected by the ring. She just stared at it, her face totally blank with emotion. Beck was growing more and more nervous by the second, because he knew from past experience that it wasn't a good sign when Jade was speechless for such a long period of time.

Jade finally looked up at him after what seemed like hours, but her face was still blank. "It's pretty," she said.

Beck let out a breath that he hadn't realized that he was holding. "So you like it?"

Jade nodded and looked back down at the ring again. "Yeah, I do."

Beck was incredibly confused. She was being really short with him, and most of the time, that meant she was angry. But she looked so calm…he was really worried. "So…will you marry me?" he asked timidly, starting to rock back and forth and not looking her in the eyes. This was _not_ the way he planned for this to happen.

She was quiet again, and then she handed the box back to him and turned back to the mirror. "No."

"Wait, what?" Beck said as he followed after her, shoving the box back in his pocket. "You've said no five times. I have a ring this time. I spent a ton of money on this-"

"It's not my fault you're an idiot."

Beck sighed exasperatedly and ran a hand through his hair, as he always did when he started to get stressed. He could feel another fight coming on, but he was going to try his hardest to keep his voice even. He hated fighting, and he knew that she did too. "Why do you always say no? You've never given me a reason. I need a reason."

"Because my dad left my mom, okay?" Jade yelled as she turned around to face him again. "He married her, and then he left her without any warning. I don't want to go through all of that."

Beck backed away from her a little bit, taken aback by the sudden outburst. There were tears streaming down her cheeks now, and he quickly moved over to her and took her into his arms. "Jade, don't cry. Please. You know I would never do that to you. We've been together for eight years. Why would I leave now?"

She cried for a really, really long time. Sometimes she would talk about how much she hated her dad and how he had ruined her life, but otherwise it was pretty quiet. They ended up on the bed, lying next to each other, with Jade curled up against Beck's chest and Beck playing with her hair, trying to calm her down. He hadn't meant to upset her in the first place.

"I'm sorry," Jade muttered once she was calm. "I didn't mean to get all upset." She got up from the bed and wiped away the few tears still remaining. "I do want to get married, you know. I'm just…I don't know…scared. But I'll make a deal with you." She turned around to face him with that malicious smile that she always wore when she was up to no good. "I'll say yes…if you give me a real proposal. And a good one. Not one of those cheesy, clichéd proposals that you always see in the movies."

"What?" Beck asked. He was confused once again. "That hardly seems fair. I mean…marriage is supposed to be about love and stuff. Not about how awesome the proposal is."

Jade raised an eyebrow and joined him on the bed again. "I do love you. A lot," she said, pecking him lightly on the lips. "But I also want a nice proposal." She paused and looked down at the bed, playing with the sheets just a little bit, trying to think of what to say next. "Beck…I don't wanna go back to New York. I hate it. I wanna stay here."

Beck frowned. He felt the same way. New York had been nothing but horrible to both of them for the past five years, and he had wanted to leave since the day he got there. "I do too. I just don't think I can put up with New York anymore. And plus, I don't want to raise a kid in New York City."

"Can we move back here?" Jade asked. It was sudden, but they had both been thinking it for a long time. It was just the first time that the idea had been spoken out loud. "Do we have enough money to move back? I mean, you have a job when we get back home, and we probably can't afford a new house right now."

Beck hesitated for a second. "Um…well, we could stay with my parents-"

"Ugh, your parents."

Beck rolled his eyes. "They're not that bad. We can stay with them for a little while until we can afford our own place, if you really want to move back that badly."

"I do," Jade said. "I can't stand New York anymore. It's like it's mocking me. I know I have talent, but it's like…in New York, I'm not worth anything. I just sit in the apartment and stare at the wall all day."

Beck nodded in understanding. He knew exactly how she felt. He hadn't done much of anything since high school, and they were living on a very low budget. Both of them wanted to be professional actors more than anything, but he knew that Jade's passion and longing for the stage were much stronger than his. And he would do anything to make her dreams come true…

"Alright. I'll go back to New York. I'll quit my job, get everything packed, get rid of the apartment, and come back here," he finally decided. "You can stay with my parents until I get back, okay?" Jade groaned again at the idea of Beck's parents, but he silenced her again. "I'll only be gone for a few days. Now come on. We have to say goodbye to Cat before she leaves for Paris."

…

Tori walked into the hotel for the last time before they were all going to separate again. The week had gone by entirely too fast, and she felt like she had barely had any time to spend with all of her friends. She sat down with Trina in the lobby, waiting calmly for one of her friends to emerge from the elevator directly across from her.

Surprisingly, the next person she saw was not Cat, Robbie, Beck, or Jade. Andre walked in through the front door holding a large stack of papers and a manila envelope. He seemed to be totally absorbed by the papers, and Tori walked over to him, cautiously eyeing the papers as she did so. She knew they had something to do with Chelsea.

"Hey, Andre," she said quietly with a small smile, placing her hand gently on his arm. He looked up at her and returned a small smile, but she knew that he wasn't very happy. "What's going on?" She nodded toward the papers.

Andre frowned deeply and sighed as he flipped one of the pages and shook his head. "Chelsea called me last night. I thought for sure that she would have calmed down a little bit by now, but she told me that she went down to the courthouse, and she got annulment papers. Not divorce, annulment. She said it was easier to do than divorce. She's already signed." He continued studying the pages, his eyes narrowing every once in a while as if he didn't like what he saw, and then he looked up at Tori. "She said that I was under the influence of drugs during the ceremony. That's the reason that we're getting annulled." He grumbled under his breath and moved over to a small table in the corner of the room, pulling out a pen and angrily signing his name on the front page of the stack.

Tori grimaced as she watched him forcefully writing, and she slowly sat down next to Andre. "So…this is it, huh?"

Andre didn't reply. He just continued to sign on each page that was necessary, and after a long time, he finally stuffed the papers back into the envelope and threw them to the side. "Yeah, that's it. I'm taking them down to the courthouse, and then it's over. God, I don't know why I even decided to marry her. I don't even know why I loved her. We didn't have anything in common." He shook his head and blew out an exasperated breath, turning away from Tori.

Tori started biting her nails, that awful habit that she had picked up in the last couple of years, and looked over to Trina for support. She honestly had no idea what to do or say in this situation. Should she just tell him that everything was going to be okay? Trina didn't seem to be interested in anything that was going on, though. She was completely distracted by her phone in front of her. So, with a small sigh, Tori moved closer to Andre and started to rub his back soothingly, hoping that that would calm him down.

Andre turned around to face her again, his eyes meeting hers. And for a second, it seemed as if they were the only two people in the world. Andre actually found that he was completely speechless, getting lost in those dark chocolate brown eyes that he had fallen in love with so many years ago. Who had they been talking about? Where were they? He was in his own world.

The moment ended when Tori looked down at the floor, taking another deep breath in. Now was the time. Damn it, she had been interrupted every single time she had tried to tell him how she felt. She was not going to let it happen again. She was just going to spit it out. It would be like ripping off a band-aid. The quicker she did it, the less it would hurt.

"Andre, I'm not going to let anything stop me from telling you this," she murmured, not meeting his eyes. "I've been trying to tell you ever since I got here, and I'm tired of not getting to say it. So here it is. Are you ready?" She paused, making sure that she herself was ready, and then said, "I'm still in love with you, Andre."

There was no response for a very, very long time. Tori looked up from the floor and bit her lip. Andre's face was exactly how she had imagined it to be at this point. He was staring at her in disbelief and shock, clearly struggling for words to say.

"I um…I don't really know what to say to that-"

Without warning, Tori busted out laughing, almost falling out of her chair as she did so. Andre jumped back in his, startled by the outburst, and he quickly glanced around the room to see that everyone was looking in their direction, hoping to find out what was so hilarious. If only Andre knew the answer to that…

"Um…" he said, turning back to Tori with an amused smile on his face. "I wasn't aware that I was being funny."

Tori was still giggling insanely, and she grabbed his arm tightly, trying to regain her composure. Her sides were aching now, and tears were streaming from her eyes, and she was finally able to cool down enough to talk. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, but I just heard what I said, and it's the craziest thing. I haven't seen you in five years, _five years_, and now I'm telling you that I'm in love with you. It's just so stupid. I'm stupid. I'm sorry." She wiped a tear away from her eye and chuckled a little bit more.

Andre's eyebrows knitted together as he stared at her in confusion. He had yet to find what was so hilarious about the situation. "Um…well, I don't think it's all that stupid," he muttered, rubbing his neck and looking anywhere but at her.

Tori's beautiful smile disappeared, and it was replaced with a look of confusion, much like Andre's. She tilted her head to the side and contemplated what he could possibly mean by that. Did he return the feelings for her? Was she sure that she even cared about him like that? Now that she had told him, she just felt…stupid.

"Wait, what do you-" she started to ask, but got interrupted by a shrill voice from somewhere close by.

"Hi!" Cat exclaimed, coming to a stop in front of Andre and Tori and dropping her bags beside her. She was dressed in a short, pink dress with white high heels and a white beret, which made her red hair stand out more than it usually did. "I'm leaving for Paris in an hour!"

"Aww," Tori said sadly as she got up from the table and threw her arms around Cat. "I really wish we could have seen each other more. This week just flew by, huh?"

"Yeah," Cat agreed, returning the hug. "I got a call from my assistant, though, and she said that I've had a lot of customers in the past week. I need to get back." She let go of Tori and darted over to Andre, throwing her arms around him. "I'll miss you guys so much! Stay in touch. Maybe I'll be back to visit in a couple of months." She smiled and released Andre, and she checked her phone for the time. The plane was leaving soon, and she needed to get a taxi and head across town in the next few minutes. "I'll just say bye to Beck, Jade, and Robbie, and then I'll be gone."

An awful pain seemed to shoot through her entire body when she said Robbie's name. She wouldn't see him for a long time. She and Robbie had been rather close during high school, and they had made foolish mistakes in the past few days. They did not love each other in a romantic way, and she wished that she could take back everything that had happened. It had possibly messed up their friendship forever. She had to forget him. She had to get back to Paris and continue her life there. Pretend that nothing ever happened…

"Hey, Cat," Beck said as he and Jade walked over to her. He hugged her for a second, and Jade hugged her as well. "You ready to go to the airport?"

Cat frowned. No, she really wasn't ready. She wanted to stay here, but she had a life in Paris. She loved Paris, and she didn't want to leave, even if she would miss her friends greatly. "Yeah, sure. I just have to say bye to Robbie first."

As if on cue, Robbie walked into the room, slowly and warily, not looking at any of his friends. He was going to miss them all greatly, but he was going to miss Cat the most. He couldn't bear looking at her or saying goodbye. He didn't know when he was going to see her again, or if he was going to see her again at all. But he was going to pack up enough courage and do it. This was the last time he was going to see her for the time being. He wanted to remember her.

"Robbie," Cat said as she walked over to him. She could feel tears starting to pool up, and she bit her lip to try to stop them from spilling over. She had to act like this wasn't killing her right now.

"Cat," Robbie said. She was standing just a couple of feet away from him, looking innocent and indecisive of what she should do next. Robbie gulped down that awful feeling in his throat and walked forward, pulling her into a hug. He closed his eyes and nestled his head into her shoulder, hoping against hope that this was how it could stay. Her tiny frame fit perfectly against his body, like she was his missing puzzle piece. She smelled sweet, like a mixture of lavender and strawberries and all of the other amazing smells in the world. He would remember this forever.

"Bye, Robbie," she whispered in his ear, and just like that, she let go of him. She waved goodbye to Trina, who was still on the other side of the room, and grabbed her bags, turning to face Beck once again. "I'm ready."

"Great," Beck said as he turned to give Jade a goodbye kiss. "I'll see you in a few days." When he started to head out the door, he noticed that Cat was not following him, and he spun around to see that everyone was staring at him questioningly. "Oh, Jade and I are moving back here. We hate New York."

"Oh, yay! That's so exciting!" Cat squealed, and then she remembered that she no longer lived her. She frowned and looked up at Tori. "Are you coming?"

"No," Tori said, shaking her head vigorously. "I hate New York too. I called to quit my job this morning. I'm calling my landlord when I get back home."

"Oh," Cat murmured, looking down at the ground. "Well…okay." She was the only one that was not moving back, and she hated that. But she had to return to Paris. "You ready to go now?" she asked, casting a glance at Beck. He nodded, and with a final goodbye to everyone, they were gone.

Robbie watched her until he saw her loading all of her things into a taxi outside, and then he turned around to face his four friends that were still in the room. He tried to fake a smile, tried to show them that everything was okay, but it wasn't. His insides were on fire, and he was starting to hate himself more and more for not begging her to stay. He wanted her to stay more than anything…

As he watched Tori sit down at the table with Andre again, he saw them shoot a glance at one another that was probably supposed to go unnoticed. Their high school love was catching up with them now, so why couldn't his? He was practically in love with Cat when they were teenagers, and if he had to fight for that love now, he would. Maybe he was being foolish, but he didn't care. Without any explanation, he ran out of the hotel and onto the busy streets of Los Angeles. He was going to make Cat stay, whether she liked it or not.

It took a long time to get a taxi. It seemed like the whole world was against him today, but he was going to fight it. He checked his watch frequently, counting down the minutes until Cat's plane left. The taxi got stuck in a huge line of traffic at one point, and he had half an hour to get to the airport before Cat was gone.

After a while, he grew impatient with the waiting. "Is there any way you can pass all of these cars?" he asked, leaning over the seat so that he could see the driver's face clearly. "I mean, can't you just drive on the sidewalk or something?"

"I'm doing the best I can, pal," the driver said exasperatedly as he pulled the car forward just a little bit.

Robbie sighed and checked his watch again. Twenty minutes. The airport was still several blocks away. In this traffic, it would be impossible to make it in time. With a final glance out the window at the cars in front of him, Robbie groaned and pulled out all of the money that he had in his pocket, handed it to the driver with a "thank you," and got out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

He ran as fast as he could, trying to avoid the people on the sidewalks, but it seemed like everything was moving ten times slower than it normally did in LA. He shoved his way through crowds and picked up his pace. His lungs were about ready to explode from the heat and from running so fast, but he persisted. It would all be worth it. Cat had to stay with him.

The airport was just as crowded as the sidewalks. He rushed past the security without even being noticed, and he immediately began searching the place for that bright, vivid red hair that he loved so much.

_ The 10:00 flight to Paris will be leaving in approximately five minutes._

Robbie mentally cursed that stupid voice on the intercom, reminding him that he only had five minutes. She couldn't have boarded the plane already…no. It was impossible.

Just when he was about to lose all hope, he spotted her on the other side of the room. "Cat!" he screamed, although he doubted that she could hear him. He rushed forward as fast as he could, once again not caring that his lungs were on fire and his breath was coming out short. "Cat!" he yelled again, once he was closer.

She turned around with a startled look on her face, but before she could say anything, Robbie collided with her and pressed his lips against hers. It didn't last for very long, though, because Cat jerked herself away from him.

"Robbie, what are you doing?" she demanded. "I'm supposed to be on the plane right now."

Robbie shook his head and took her hands in his, squeezing them tightly. "Please stay, Cat. I'll miss you too much."

Cat was speechless. No one had ever tried to stop her from leaving. She didn't think that anyone had ever cared enough to try. But now that Robbie was here…no, she couldn't. Paris was waiting for her. "I can't, Robbie. I'm sorry," she murmured. Tears were rolling down her cheeks now, and she didn't bother to wipe them away. She pulled her hands away from him and waved a little as she began to walk away. "Bye, Robbie. I'll see you soon."

With that, she was gone. Gone from his life for now. They had gone five years without contacting each other. It was sure to happen again. But she was on the plane now, on her way to Paris, and there wasn't a thing he could do about it. So Robbie left the airport with tears in his eyes and a broken heart.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! I'm trying to make these chapters shorter, I really am. But it's so hard when I'm writing three different storylines. I hope you guys don't mind too much. Also, about 54 people have this on their alert, so please, if you're reading, can you please review? It would mean so, so much to me. Thanks, and remember that I love you guys. (: Virtual cupcakes for you all! **

Over the next couple of weeks, Tori found that she didn't really get any down time. Trina was gone to her movie set early in the mornings and on into the afternoon for almost a week, and Andre dropped in every day after Trina was gone. Tori didn't mind Andre staying over at her house all the time, because she knew that he was still confused and in pain and needed guidance and a shoulder to cry on. However, she did want to know how he was going to respond to her confession of her still being in love with him. Even when she had gotten the secret out, she still seemed to be interrupted in the middle of a conversation. Even though she wondered how he truly felt about her, he never brought it up around her. In fact, he was acting as if nothing had ever happened.

After two weeks of this behavior, Tori was starting to get frustrated. All he ever did was eat lunch with her, watch movies, and attempt to write songs while playing beautiful melodies on his keyboard. They never left the house because Andre couldn't go anywhere without being bothered. Tori didn't mind staying inside with him, and she certainly didn't mind his keyboard playing, but it annoyed her beyond belief that he didn't seem to want to talk about anything.

Tori's parents loved Andre almost as much as they loved Tori and Trina. They admired how down-to-earth he was, even now that he was famous. Tori admired that as well. In fact, she sometimes questioned how he managed to do that, how he managed to still care about his old friends more than anything, how he still considered her his best friend. And then she would quickly get reminded of how he wouldn't talk to her about the conversation they had at the hotel, and she would grow angry again.

One day, she had had enough of his silence. It was her responsibility now. She would have to start up the conversation and hope that it went in the direction that she wanted it to go in. She brought him a cup of coffee and sat it calmly in front of him, and she curled up next to him on the couch with her cup. She watched his fingers glide smoothly over the keyboard keys, listened carefully to the tune that was emitting from it, and she sighed. There were no words to accompany it. Andre had lost inspiration, and she couldn't help but wonder it that might have been her fault.

No, it was not her fault. Nothing was her fault. She had done absolutely nothing wrong, so his silence was his own fault. Not hers. She sipped her coffee in peace, continuing to watch every little move that he made while playing with her hair. Words were floating around in her mind to put to the music, although she had never been much of a songwriter. She wished that she was brave enough to say the words out loud, tell Andre how perfect he was in the form of a song. Yes, she had to bring up the conversation. She had to know if he loved her back.

But when she opened her mouth to speak, the only thing that came out was, "How's your coffee?" She winced at her stupidity.

"It's good," Andre said, although he had hardly touched it since Tori brought it to him.

Tori frowned and watched him again. It seemed as if the only thing he wanted to do was play the keyboard and occasionally talk about his music. So she would just have to phrase her question in a way that would appeal to him, a question about his music.

"Andre, can I ask you a question about music?" she asked, setting her cup down and sitting up straight, licking her lips and contemplating how best to phrase this. When he looked up at her and she knew that she had his full attention, she continued. "When learning to play the guitar, how long does it take before you tell me how you really feel about me?"

Andre blinked slowly, trying to figure out if he had heard her correctly. But she had her lips pursed and her arms crossed as she glared at him, and he knew that she was being serious. He had been putting this conversation off as long as he possibly could, simply because he had no idea how he felt about Tori. Sure, he loved her, but he wasn't sure if he was still _in love_ with her. He definitely was when they had parted ways five years ago, and every once in a while he found himself thinking about her in ways that friends were not supposed to think about friends.

He slowly pushed his keyboard away from him and started to wring his hands nervously. He could feel her glaring at him, her eyes begging for an answer, any answer, but he didn't know what to say to her. He finally gathered up enough courage to look up at her, and he almost lost his breath. Even when she was angry with him, her beautiful brown eyes seemed to somehow shine like the stars. He was always at a loss for words when he looked into her eyes. They seemed to suck him right in, and he always got lost in them.

As they stared at each other, Tori's face softened, and her tightly crossed arms fell slowly until she didn't look so tense anymore. For some reason, she wasn't so mad at Andre now. She raised an eyebrow, wondering if he was going to say anything or if they were just going to sit there and stare at each other. Either way, she didn't mind.

"Hey, Tori?" Andre said softly. "Can I just…" He was subconsciously moving toward her, so close now that he could feel her breath and smell her apple-scented shampoo.

Tori's breath caught in her throat, and she felt millions of tiny butterflies floating around in her stomach, making her feel as if she was going to be sick. Andre's face was only inches from hers, and before she could ready herself, his lips lightly met hers. It was awkward and strange at first, as it was the first time they had kissed so many years ago, but as Tori closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck, things started to fall in place. As he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her closer to him, she felt goose bumps form on her arms and a chill creep up her spine. This is what she had been imagining for so long, and now it was finally coming true.

"Ugh, gross. Get a room." Tori jumped and moved away from Andre as she quickly turned around to see Trina standing a few feet from the couch looking completely disgusted. She hadn't even heard the door open…

"Sorry," she murmured, not meeting Trina's eyes. She glanced over at Andre and saw that he had resumed playing his keyboard, not even looking in her direction.

"No, don't apologize," Trina said, waving to off as she walked over to them and squeezed in between them. "I'm just glad you guys are so happy." She pinched Tori's cheek, causing Tori to slap at her angrily, but Trina didn't seem affected by this. She reached into her purse and pulled out a large pack of papers. "This is the love story that I told you I was going to write about you two. Of course, I'll be playing you…but that's for another time. So listen to this-"

"Trina! Get out of here!" Tori yelled, pointing toward the stairs with a look to kill in her eyes.

Trina frowned and stuffed the pack back into her purse as she got up from the couch and walked slowly up the stairs, lingering a little too long at the top of the stairs to see if she could catch a little bit of Tori and Andre's conversation, but Tori refused to speak until Trina was gone. With a last sorrowful look, Trina walked into her room, leaving Tori and Andre alone again.

"So…" Tori said, looking up at Andre nervously. Did that mean that he still loved her? She hoped so, because she loved every second of it. This was the best that she had felt since she got home.

"Hmm…" Andre mused as he picked up the pencil next to his keyboard and started scribbling notes on a piece of paper. He played a quick, happy tune on his keyboard and looked over at Tori with a wide smile on his face. "Do you wanna go out to dinner sometime?"

Tori bit her lip and tried to fight back the smile that was forcing its way to the surface. He hadn't directly said it, but she knew that the feelings were mutual. "Sure."

"Great," Andre said. He looked away from Tori with a smile still gracing his lips, and he began to scribble on his paper again. "I want you to sing this song with me when it's finished. It's a duet."

"Ooh, a duet," Tori exclaimed, scooting closer to him so that she could see the words that he had been writing in the past few minutes. It wasn't exactly a song yet, just ideas and brainstorming written sloppily all over the sheet that Tori couldn't read. She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, and he took her hand in his while he continued to scrawl messily all over the rest of his ideas.

This was where Tori had wanted to be for so long. She wanted to be in LA, recording songs with Andre and making her way to the top. In just a few short months, she would be a star, just as she had always dreamed. And she would be able to share the dream with the man she loved.

…..

When Beck finally returned to Los Angeles a week later with all of their things and the news that they would never have to return to New York again, Jade was relieved. Not because of being away from New York, but because she was no longer alone in a house with Beck's parents. Ever since she and Beck had started dating, they hated her. And it only made matters worse when Jade had tried to give Beck that dog and it attacked his dad. Since then they had been begging him to break up with her, and he just wouldn't listen to them.

And now, five years later, when Beck returned and asked them for shelter just for a little while, they readily agreed in hopes that he had someone else besides Jade with him. But when Jade showed up on their front porch with her suitcases, they looked less than pleased. Nevertheless, they let her stay, although it wasn't pleasant without Beck there. Whenever she had the opportunity, Beck's mom pointed out Jade's flaws and insulted her in the worst ways, and Jade never let that kind of behavior slide. She and Mrs. Oliver fought every time they crossed each other's path, which was the exact reason why she stayed in the guest bedroom most of the time and minded her own business.

When Beck got back, his mom showered him in love and affection but didn't hesitate on telling him that he could have had someone better. Beck ignored it, as he always did. He had only been in the house for five minutes, and he was already annoyed by her.

During the next week, Beck was out of the house most of the time in search of a job, and Jade was once again completely alone. She refused to leave the room, and for the most part, she continued writing her play. It was almost done now, and as soon as she finished it, she planned on selling it to whoever would buy it. Whatever she could do to get the money to move out of here…

And then the morning sickness kicked in. It should have started sooner, but Jade's body had never reacted the same as everyone else's. Beck's mom noticed the strange behavior, and Jade wanted to tell her exactly what was going on out of spite, but Beck silenced her, telling her that his mother did not deserve a heart attack right now.

"What is wrong with you?" Mrs. Oliver demanded over dinner one night. "Are you sick?"

Jade smirked and started to calmly explain that she was carrying the spawn of Satan, but Beck stopped her before she could say anything, so instead she just said, "I have a weak stomach."

"That's a lie," Mrs. Oliver said. "You like all that blood and gore and stuff-"

"All true. I. Love. It."

Mrs. Oliver's face contorted into disgust, and she looked at Beck in disbelief. Beck refused to look up at her, and so she turned back to Jade. "Do you have psychological problems?"

After that, Beck decided that he would just take Jade out to dinner the next night. They both needed an escape from his insane mother, and he had already planned another attempted proposal that she couldn't refuse. She would never see it coming.

"Your mom's a lunatic," Jade said, stabbing at her chicken angrily.

Beck gave her a look of disapproval. He loved both his mom and Jade, and he probably hated when they fought more than Jade did. "Will you just forget about it tonight? By the time we get back home, she'll be asleep. You won't have to deal with her, okay?" He looked up and saw that Jade was glaring at him, so he sighed and changed the subject. "You have your first doctor's appointment in a couple of weeks."

Jade rolled her eyes. "Like I even want to see that hideous thing growing inside of me. It's going to make me fat." She blew out an exasperated breath, and she looked up at Beck, her eyes narrowing in a way that made Beck nervous. "How do you think it happened?"

Beck stared at her in disbelief and lowered his voice as he said, "I think we both know how it happened, Jade."

Jade groaned and looked like she would have liked nothing better than to stab him with her fork. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that you thought I was a complete idiot. I meant what time do you think it happened."

"Well, you could have just said that."

"I enjoy confusing you too much."

Beck opened his mouth to fight back, but then stopped and put on a smile. It was obvious that Jade was in a really bad mood, but he was not going to let it ruin this dinner. So he ignored her and thought back to what was going on in his life about six weeks ago. "Oh, you know, it might have been that time we did it on the balcony."

"Oh, yeah," Jade said reminiscently. "The neighbors did not like that." She and Beck were both silent for a moment as they both stared off into space, as if trying to remember the events, and then Jade cleared her throat and said, "So I haven't seen that ring in a while. Any chance it's gonna pop up sometime soon?"

Beck smiled innocently and shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not." There was a short pause before he continued. "So how's cake for dessert? I'm really craving cake right now."

Jade laughed and almost spit out the water that she had just drunk. Beck tilted his head to the side in confusion, because Jade hardly ever laughed at anything. "You know what'd be really lame?" she said when she had regained her composure. "If you put the ring in the cake, and-"

"Damn it!" Beck exclaimed, which caused several people in the restaurant to look in their direction. "How the hell did you-" He groaned and hid his face in his hands. That wasn't exactly how he had planned it to go.

Jade frowned as the waiter placed a piece of cake in front of her. She didn't ever think that Beck would do something so cliché, and she had expected them to share a laugh about the idea. But now she just felt…awful. "I'm sorry, Beck. Maybe I should just…act surprised and pretend I didn't say anything. I'll just say yes, and we can get married. It would make things a whole lot easier-"

"No no no no no," Beck said. "I promise you an awesome proposal, and you're going to get it." Before Jade could say anything, he was already digging around in her cake looking for the ring.

"Beck, I was going to eat that."

But Beck wasn't listening. He was already planning on what he was going to try next.

….

Robbie hadn't slept soundly in two weeks, especially since as soon as Cat left he got fired from his regular job at the comedy club. He knew he wasn't that funny, and everyone else thought it too, but Cat was always encouraging him and laughing at his jokes. She was the only one that had ever believed that he would actually be somebody one day. And when he started to think about Cat, he always got really depressed and couldn't concentrate on anything. So he'd stare at the wall and hope that maybe, just maybe, sleep would overcome him soon.

Sleep never came. He went out every day searching for a job anywhere that there was one available. It didn't even have to involve acting. He was getting fed up with show business anyway. He had never been extraordinarily talented, and that was killing him now. He just didn't want to give up his dream, and now he realized that he should have given it up a long time ago. He was going to be roaming the streets, unemployed, for a long, long time.

One night as he was lying in his bed, trying to sleep once again, his cell phone started buzzing loudly on his nightstand. He thought about ignoring it, feeling as if nothing at all was important to him right now, and then realized just how late it was. It was almost three in the morning. Who would be calling him this late? He rolled over so that he could see his phone's screen clearly, and as he put on his glasses and picked it up, he felt his heart skip a beat. Cat was calling him.

He didn't exactly know if he should answer it. After all, she had left him, even after he had begged her to stay, and he was still upset with her. But then again, he really did miss hearing her voice. He would answer just to see what she wanted. "Hello?" he said as a loud crack of thunder sounded outside and rain started to pound his roof.

"Robbie, oh thank God you answered!" Cat exclaimed. It sounded like she had been crying before she called, and Robbie hated that. He didn't want her to cry over anything, even if he was angry at her right now. "I was afraid you'd be asleep, but I really needed to talk to you." She paused, and Robbie sat upright in bed and waited for her to continue. "I got to Paris, and I realized that I missed you guys a lot. You, especially. You and I had something special, even in high school. You weren't like all the other guys. You actually had a little respect for me. And even though I know I'm really ditzy and stuff, you're really patient with me, and I really appreciate it."

Robbie rubbed his eyes and yawned. He was so tired. Two weeks with no sleep were really starting to catch up with him. "Is there something you're trying to tell me?" He tried to sound mad, but she just sounded so fragile. He didn't want to hurt her feelings. She was always so sensitive.

"Yes. I'm trying to tell you that I stopped liking Paris after I got back. I missed you too much, and I'm home."

Robbie's eyes widened. She wasn't in Paris anymore? She was in LA right now? Why hadn't she called sooner? So many questions were swimming around in his mind. "Wait, where are you? Where are you staying? Does anyone else know?"

"No," Cat replied. "I'm just walking around, you know. I was wondering if I could come over to your house and stay the night."

Robbie felt awful. She was roaming around in the city in the middle of the night by herself in the pouring rain. It sounded miserable. "Of course you can. I've got an extra room, and you can stay in there."

"Or I could stay in your room with you." Cat paused for a second, and the only sound that could be heard was the downpour and the thunder outside. "Robbie, what's going on between us exactly?"

Robbie only wished that he had an answer to that. He had been wondering the same thing throughout the nights that she had spent in his hotel room. "I don't know. Sleeping around with each other doesn't mean we're a couple, so…"

"Do you want to be a couple?"

Well, of course he did. He had loved Cat Valentine ever since the day he had set eyes on her. He had been in denial for a long time. It just took a really long time for him to realize how he truly felt about her. "Do you?"

Another pause. Robbie felt his stomach twisting into knots and his heart beating ten times faster. She was sure to say no. "Yes," she said so softly that Robbie wondered if he had imagined it. "Yes, I do. But only if you do. And we can't tell our friends. They'll freak out."

"I know they will," Robbie said. "We'll keep it secret until we're ready to tell them, alright? Don't worry-"

There was a knock on his door, and he crawled out of bed, his phone still pressed to his ear, to answer it. When he swung the door open, Cat was on his porch, soaking wet from the rain and carrying two heavy bags. Robbie smiled at her a little, and she returned the smile. As soon as she had stepped inside, Robbie pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her more passionately than he had at the airport, not caring that he was getting completely soaked. And somewhere in the back of his mind, he had a tiny feeling that Cat would come back. He was more than glad that she did.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh, and you guys? One more favor? My friend dolldarlingcliche is new to fanfiction, and she's got a story up that hasn't gotten many reviews yet. It's a wrestling fanfiction, so if you guys like wrestling, can you please check it out and show some love? Thanks. <strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay, so this is definitely not my best chapter. And I know my Tandre fans aren't really going to be happy with me. First of all, I skipped over their first date simply because I didn't see how it was of any importance to the main plot with them. Second of all...well, you'll see. This chapter is sort of a filler chapter, but it also has plenty of twists and surprises, I hope. The next chapter will probably be incredibly long, if no one minds. Also, if you are reading, please leave a review, whether you like or not. It means a lot. And don't forget my friend dolldarlingcliche has a fanfiction she needs reviews on. Wrestling, of course, if you're interested. Please show her some love. She's been helpful in the writing of this story, and she needs readers. Thanks. (:**

The next two weeks passed smoothly. Cat only had to stay with Robbie for one night before she got up and went to stay with Tori and Trina. She would have stayed, but she and Robbie both thought that if she did, their friends would get really suspicious. So she was with Tori and Trina until she found an apartment that was available.

Currently, they were all at a small concert that Andre's manager had organized. It was being held at a local club, and there were only about five hundred people that were going to be there. Andre said that it was just supposed to introduce his new music that he had written and to introduce Tori, who he hoped was going to be recording with him regularly. That was only if his manager and producers liked her, though.

Tori was in the girls' bathroom of the club, smoothing out her pink dress that she was wearing for the performance and making sure that she looked decent enough to go on stage. But she wasn't really paying much attention to her looks. She was pondering over the last couple of weeks that she had spent with Andre. He had taken her to dinner for their first date, and they had been together almost every night since then. For the most part, they worked on music and reminisced on their high school days. And then Andre had asked her to do this small concert with him, and she couldn't refuse. She had wanted this for so long, although she was slightly nervous about getting on stage again. What if people didn't like her?

She tried to push that feeling aside and focus on her love for performing. Yes, that made her feel better, though she did still have a few butterflies in her stomach. She thought about Andre and how perfect he was and how much she had missed him the last five years and how happy she was that they were back together. And that put a smile on her face. As she stared back at her reflection, she felt more beautiful than she had in a long time. It was the first time that she had seen a real smile on her face since she moved to New York, and she knew now that smiles really did make people prettier. She was so glad to feel like her old self again.

Meanwhile, Jade was standing in the almost deserted club staring in disgust at the picture of her ultrasound that she had gotten that afternoon. Beck was staring at it too, but more with love and affection. He had been overly ecstatic all day, and that just made Jade even sicker.

"Ugh, this thing is hideous," she said. "It looks like you."

"How can you tell? You can't even see its face. It just looks like a big blob-"

"It's still hideous, and I know it's going to end up looking like you."

"Don't say that," Beck said, wrapping his arms around her waist and laying his head on her shoulder. "You don't mean it. Because you looooooooooove me."

Jade cast a glare at him and rolled her eyes. "Not right now. This thing is pissing me off, and it's all your fault." She paused for a second, which Beck took as an advantage to fight back, but she quickly interrupted him. "What do you think this weird lump in the back is? Because it makes the baby look all deformed and stuff, like it has a watermelon for a head."

"The doctor said he thinks it's another baby," Beck said happily, tightening his grip on her and smiling wider than he already was. "He said that it's developing slower than normal with you, and it's really hard to tell."

"Yes, I know. But I refuse to believe that. Wouldn't it be more visible if it was another baby?"

"Not necessarily. See-"

Beck stopped when he saw Jade hastily stuffing the picture in her purse, and he looked up to see that Cat and Robbie were heading their way, looking rather distressed about something.

"What do you guys think about Tori and Andre's relationship?" Cat asked, her arms crossed and her brown eyes wide with curiosity.

Jade and Beck exchanged glances, and Beck shrugged. "I don't know. It's alright, I guess. They seem to be happy, so we should be happy for them. Why? Is there something wrong?"

Robbie took in a breath and let it out as he ran a hand through his hair. "Well, Cat and I have been thinking…well, I've been thinking…don't you think it's kind of strange that he started dating her two weeks after he and Chelsea got annulled?"

Beck tilted his head to the side in thought and shook his head. "No, not really. I mean, if he loves Tori, it shouldn't matter about Chelsea."

Robbie usually had no idea what he was talking about when it came to relationships, especially since the only real relationship that he had ever been in was with Cat now, and that was hardly considered a relationship. But he had been thinking about this long and hard ever since Tori had told them all about their first date. And he didn't like what he saw. "Yes, but did he ever show any sign of being in love with her when Chelsea was around?" Robbie asked, and the question made all of them go silent.

Well, no, he hadn't. He hadn't seemed to care about Tori as anything more than a friend when he was with Chelsea. Not even when Chelsea wasn't around. The question made them all wonder, and after a few seconds, they all looked up at each other again in realization.

"So you think she's a rebound?" Jade asked.

Robbie shrugged. "I don't know. But just think about it. Andre and Tori dated for five months and broke up. Andre met Chelsea, and they dated for three years before they got married. And I know that Andre said Tori's name at the wedding, but that was probably just an innocent mistake. Until Chelsea got the annulment papers, Andre didn't show any interest in getting back together with Tori."

"That's probably because he was getting married and he didn't want to cheat on his wife," Cat pointed out. "Andre would never cheat."

"But he still didn't show any signs of still being in love with her. And it's really hard to hide feelings like that."

"Robbie, he's an actor," Beck said. "Actors are able to cover up feelings like that." But then again, Andre hadn't always been the best actor at Hollywood Arts. And he _was_ acting overly affectionate with Tori. He had never acted like that with anyone else that he had ever dated. Something definitely was strange about their new relationship. "Oh, God," he murmured. "Tori is the rebound."

Robbie nodded. "Exactly. So what are we supposed to do? Do we tell her, or what? I don't want her to end up getting hurt."

Once again, they all fell silent. It was a hard decision to make. As her friends, it really wasn't any of their business what was going on in her relationship, but then again, they didn't want her to get her feelings hurt. They exchanged a few nervous glances with each other, but before anyone could speak again, Andre walked over to them with a wide grin on his face.

"Hey, guys. What are we talking about over here?"

Once again, they all looked at each other. "Unicorns," Cat said quickly, without thinking. "We're talking about unicorns. They're so pretty, right?"

Andre laughed and patted Cat on the head. "I guess so. But not as pretty as Tori. I'm so glad I invited her to the wedding."

"Yeah, Andre, about that…" Robbie began, rubbing his neck apprehensively. "Um…you and Tori are-"

"There she is now," Andre said, not even paying attention to what Robbie was saying to him. Instead, he was looking up at the stage, where Tori had wandered up to check the mics. He waved at her like a lovesick idiot, and Tori waved back with a huge smile. "Isn't she so perfect?"

"Are you sure Chelsea was lying when she said you were on drugs?" Jade asked, and Beck gripped her arm tightly to get her to be quiet.

Andre looked confused for a second, but then he smiled again. "I'm gonna go get ready. The show starts in an hour."

By now, more people were wandering into the club and starting to buy drinks, while Tori darted off stage quickly to avoid being seen by too many of them. She was supposed to be the "special guest" for the night, and Andre had hoped that their newfound partnership could be a surprise. And as they watched Tori rush off, the group realized that they had to tell her what was going on with Andre.

…

Cat and Jade cornered her in the girls' bathroom twenty minutes before the show started. Tori was in front of the mirror making adjustments to her hair and make-up, and Cat and Jade walked in calmly and locked the door behind them. Tori looked up at them with a smile on her face, but when she heard the lock click, a look of horror appeared on her face.

"Hey, guys," she said, her voice shaking a little bit. Jade looked absolutely intimidating right now, and Tori was quickly reminded of their stage fighting class back in high school. Cat was behind Jade trying to look threatening, but she was Cat, and she couldn't do that. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Jade said, shrugging nonchalantly, though she still wore her famous smirk. "What's up with you?"

"Getting ready for the show," Tori replied, gulping. She had an overwhelming feeling that she was about to get beat up.

But instead of hitting Tori as Tori had expected, Jade merely smirked more and glanced at Cat. Cat nodded, as if they were sending some sort of message to each other that Tori couldn't read, and then Cat said, "We think you're Andre's rebound, and you should get out of the relationship right now." She then covered her mouth as if she had said something wrong, and Jade glared at her.

"What happened?" Jade said. "I thought we were going to play it cool for a while."

"I'm sorry! It was just really bothering me and-"

But Tori interrupted her. "Wait, what? You think I'm Andre's rebound? What are you talking about? Andre and I still care about each other." Why were they doing this to her? Why were they making her feel so terrible right before her first show?

"Maybe so, but we just don't think he's in the right mental or emotional state to be dating right now," Jade told her. "I mean, he dated Chelsea for three years and their marriage just ended. Don't you think you should give it some time before you two start dating?"

Tori frowned at them. Anger was boiling up inside of her, and she wanted nothing more than to yell at them right now. But right now wasn't the time to be getting upset. She had to be on stage in about ten minutes with Andre. And in the state that she was in right now, her mouth was working faster than her mind. "You guys are just jealous."

Cat gasped and placed her hand over her heart as if insulted by the statement, and Jade only glared. "Jealous?" Jade said. "Why would we be jealous-"

"I don't know!" Tori exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air exasperatedly. "I don't know at all. But I do know that I have to go on stage very, very soon, and I still need to finish my make-up." She paused. "And can you guys just not worry about me and Andre? We're fine. Honestly." She smiled to reassure them, but now that they had mentioned it, Andre was acting kind of strange. Maybe there was something she needed to talk about with him…no, they were fine. They just cared about each other a lot.

"Whatever," Jade said, shrugging as she took Cat by the arm and dragged her out of the bathroom, where Beck and Robbie were waiting for them in the hallway.

"So?" Robbie questioned. "How'd it go?"

"She told us we were jealous and that we needed to leave her alone," Jade answered, rolling her eyes. "Whatever, I don't care. Let's go before they get on stage." She took Beck's hand and led him back out front, with Cat and Robbie following close behind them.

…..

Andre was incredible at performing live, and the crowd seemed to love him, despite the recent events with his marriage. His friends had managed to push their way to the front of the stage to get a better view, and Andre looked more than grateful that they were there supporting him.

Tori, however, was a different story. When Andre announced her so that they could sing their new duet together, some people in the crowd didn't know if they should clap or not. Who was Tori Vega? They had certainly never heard of her before, unless they happened to go see _Grease_ in New York three years ago and saw her name in the playbill. But when she walked out on stage looking stiff and nervous, her friends clapped for her, and everyone else followed. She loosened up after that and sang the song. However, her voice had changed a little and did not produce the same melodious sound that it had in high school. In fact, it was so off that she and Andre couldn't even harmonize with each other anymore. It didn't sound bad, just…different.

Andre's manager seemed to be thinking the same thing. He was in the corner of the room listening intently, but he didn't look too impressed. Maybe she was just nervous. Maybe everything would be better if he gave her a second chance. But he was in the music business, and he didn't hand out second chances. He would just have to check with the producers to make the final decision.

After Andre and Tori were off, another group that was signed under the same record company as Andre came on stage. This held no interest to any of Andre and Tori's friends, so they situated themselves in the corner of the room so that they could talk privately. Tori and Andre didn't come out after the show because Andre didn't want to be mauled by fans, so the four were left alone to talk freely.

Cat and Robbie were not participating in the conversation, though. They were texting each other from underneath the table since they were keeping their new relationship a secret. Beck and Jade ignored them for the most part, but when Cat giggled for about the fifth time with no explanation, Jade said, "Okay, who are you texting that's so funny?"

Cat's head shot up quickly, and she frowned. "Um…my assistant. She just told me a joke. About leprechauns. Hehe." She giggled again and nudged Robbie's leg. They had _not_ been talking about leprechauns.

"And who could possibly be texting you, Robbie?" Jade asked with a small smirk.

Robbie looked up from his phone with wide eyes. There was no way he and Cat could pull off a secret relationship. He sucked at lying. "Um…my…mom?"

They both seemed to believe it, although Jade still seemed a little suspicious. Beck didn't seem to care much, though. He had been incredibly happy about something all night, and they didn't understand why.

_I saw a storage closet in the back. We can go there. But what about Jade and Beck? Won't they think something is going on? _Cat quickly texted to Robbie.

_Just tell them we're going to go look for Tori and Andre. They'll understand that, right?_

_Maybe! I'll tell them! (:_

Cat looked up from her phone and smiled at Jade and Beck. "Well, this has been fun. Why don't Robbie and I go look for Tori and Andre now?"

"Fine, we'll just stay here," Beck said, completely oblivious to the fact that Robbie had begun sweating now. Robbie _hated_ lying.

"KK!" Cat exclaimed as she grabbed Robbie's hand and dragged him out of his chair.

As soon as they had lost sight of Beck and Jade, they set off at a jog until they reached the back of the building where just a couple of hours ago, Cat and Jade had confronted Tori. Cat still had a tight grip on Robbie's hand as she searched for the storage closet that she had seen back here.

"Hey. What are you guys doing back here?"

The voice made Cat jump, and she quickly released Robbie's hand and put on an innocent smile as she looked up at Andre and Tori. "We were just…looking for you guys."

"Yep," Robbie said. "Uh…found ya." He chuckled a little bit and tried to act casual, but he was finding it harder and harder to do the more he had to lie to his friends.

"Yeah, well…we're ready to leave when you guys are. We can go get something to eat-" Andre began, but Cat interrupted.

"Yeah! Let's go get something to eat! Eating sounds great! I love eating!" She laughed nervously, and Andre and Tori exchanged looks of confusion before they both decided that it was just Cat being herself. So with that, they headed out the back exit, with Cat dialing Jade's number to inform them that they were leaving.

"It went straight to voicemail," Cat told everyone as ended the call. "She must be on the phone with someone already. I'll call her back in a couple of minutes."

Jade was actually on the phone with her voicemail. The doctor that she had visited earlier today had called two hours ago, and she hadn't answered. She and Beck had gone out to the front of the club to see what kind of new information the doctor had for them. Beck was standing next to her, trying to listen in, but she kept pushing him away as her scowl grew more and more pronounced.

When she finally hung up the phone, Beck was practically jumping out of his own skin because he was so excited. "What did she say?"

Jade grimaced and crossed her arms as she looked away from him. "You better be happy now, because we're having twins."


	10. Chapter 10

**So, here's the good news: This chapter is almost entirely Cabbie, and the next chapter is going to be dealing with Tandre. Here's the bad news: I will be gone for another week to attend church camp. I'll be leaving on Sunday and returning on Friday. Hopefully I'll have another chapter posted by the time I leave. I really hoped for 100 reviews in the last chapter, and I'm three away. But it's okay. We'll hit 100 now. Thank you guys so much for reading, and remember, if you're reading, leave a review. **

Cat was over at Robbie's house most of the next week. She always told Tori that she had to work late, and the more she lied to Tori, the easier it became. It was like the lies were just running smoothly out of her mouth by now, and Tori and Trina had no idea what was going on. Robbie, on the other hand, was coming along differently. The more he lied, the worse he got at it. He hated seeing looks of confusion on his friends' faces, and he always felt sick whenever he had to lie to them. Several times, he figured that it would just be easier to tell everyone what was going on and get it over with, but then he would change his mind. All of them had enough to worry about without having to worry about Robbie and Cat getting together. And he _knew_ that they would worry.

One day while Cat was at Robbie's house and they were watching a movie, Robbie drifted off into his own thoughts. If only he wouldn't have to lie, even just for a little while. If only he could get away from it all for just a couple of days…

And then the idea hit him. He and Cat had to get out of town for a weekend. That way, they could be alone without worrying whether or not their friends were going to barge in on them. He almost jumped off the couch he was so excited, and Cat glanced over at him curiously.

"What's up?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"We're going away this weekend!" Robbie exclaimed. Cat looked confused, and he went on. "Don't you worry about all of our friends finding out about all of this? We need to get out of town so that we can be alone. Just for the weekend, and then we can come back. It'll be fun."

Cat frowned and turned the television off, no longer interested in the movie playing. "I don't know," she said skeptically. "I mean, what are we supposed to tell everyone? If we leave together for the weekend, won't they get a little suspicious?"

"But that's the thing," Robbie said as he turned around to completely face her. "We're not leaving together. You can say that you have a fashion show or something to go to, and I can uh…I can say that I'm looking for a job out of town."

"You can't look for a job out of town! Then I'll be here all by myself, and-"

"Cat," Robbie said, placing a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "I'm not actually looking for a job out of town. We're only saying that I am. We can go to a hotel in San Diego and stay there for a couple of days."

Cat bit her lip and thought about the whole thing. Sure, it sounded like a great plan, but there was always the chance that someone would find out something. And she really, really didn't want anyone to find out. But maybe the pros of this plan outweighed the cons, and she suddenly got excited about it all. She never would have dreamed that she'd be sneaking around with someone behind her friends' backs, especially if that someone was Robbie. It was all so exhilarating.

"Okay, sure," she said. "But we'll have to lie about where we're going. We can't be going to the same place at the same time."

"Right, whatever. Let's just go get packed." Robbie jumped up from the couch and darted into his bedroom, while Cat let out a squeal of excitement and ran out the door, heading for Tori's house to get all of her things packed for the weekend trip.

…

That Thursday, Cat was in the guest bedroom making sure that she had enough clothes packed for the weekend. When everything looked good enough to her, she rushed down the stairs where she found that all of her friends were sitting in the living room talking. She smiled and made sure that she was completely composed before she walked over to them. She had to make sure that they believed her, although she knew that they would. She was getting so good at lying.

"Hey, guys," she greeted them happily as she sat down on the couch next to Andre. "So guess where I'm going this weekend?" She had their full attention now, and she grinned. "San Diego. They're having a fashion show down there, and my assistant and I are going to go."

"That's so weird," Trina said, with a hint of curiosity in her voice. "Robbie just told us that he's going to look for a job down there. Although I don't know why he is. He's not gonna find anything."

Cat pursed her lips together in disappointment as she turned her head to glare at Robbie. He wasn't even looking up at her, but he knew the mistake that had been made. "Huh, that's funny," Cat said, crossing her arms. "It seems like Robbie could've gone to look for a job somewhere else. Not San Diego."

"I can't control where I go to look for a job," Robbie said innocently. "Do you want people to think I'm lying? I'm not lying."

"Yes, you can," Cat said, raising an eyebrow at him. "You can control where _you_ go."

Robbie frowned and looked up at all of his friends, who were all staring at him curiously. "Yes, I suppose I could. But I'm still not lying."

Cat rolled her eyes and got up from the couch to go scour the kitchen for something to eat. None of her friends seemed to be suspicious of anything yet, even though she thought it was fairly obvious what was going on. She might as well just be glad that they believed Robbie, even though he was a terrible liar.

They didn't even say anything when Robbie left early the next morning and she left a couple of hours later. She met up with him at a coffee shop, and then they headed off to San Diego together. Cat could almost feel the stress melting away from her as they got farther and farther away from Los Angeles and their friends.

"Andre is watching the house for me this weekend," Robbie said. "I had to make sure to get all of your stuff out before I left. I couldn't lie to him if he found anything."

Cat sighed as she gripped his hand that wasn't on the steering wheel. He seemed to become less tense at her touch. "You really need to relax about the lying, okay? You went to a performing arts high school for four years. You should be able to lie now. I mean, who knows how long we'll have to keep this up? It might be a while before we decide to tell anyone anything. Just get used to it."

Robbie looked over at her and smiled a little, and she returned the smile. And right at that moment, he started to realize every little reason why he had cared about her so much in high school and why he was so grateful that they had met again after five years. Starting with her smile. It was perfect, just like every other thing about her.

"Ooh! I love this song!" Cat exclaimed, and Robbie was quickly brought out of his thoughts. He hadn't even realized that Cat had turned on the radio. "Makin' my way downtown, walkin' fast, faces past, and I'm homebound. Take the next part, Robbie."

"I don't know it," Robbie lied. He knew the song quite well, but he just wanted to hear Cat sing.

"Staring blankly ahead, just making my way, making my way through the crowd," Cat continued. "You have to sing the chorus, Robbie. Everyone knows the chorus."

Robbie smiled and looked over at her. She was watching him with her wide brown eyes, and he knew that he had to sing with her. It would make her happy. "If I could fall into the sky, do you think time would pass me by?" they sang together, while Cat started laughing at Robbie. She had never heard him sing before, and she thought it was cute.

The rest of the ride was spent with the radio turned up loud and sharing laughs and smiles that they weren't able to share with one another when their friends were around. Now, they could just be Cat and Robbie. There were no secrets to keep.

When they arrived at their hotel room about two hours later, Cat accidentally dropped her bag on Robbie's foot as she rushed over to the bed in excitement. "Look! They left little chocolates on the pillows! Haha." She held up the little chocolate that she had picked off of the bed giggled some more as she unwrapped it and ate it.

Robbie was almost curled up in the fetal position because of the bag on his foot, and he quickly let out a breath and removed the bag, which was much heavier than it should have been to spend just two days out of town. "Cat, what do you have in there? Bricks?" He sat down on the floor and took off his shoe, hoping that none of his toes had been crushed.

"No, just my make-up, some clothes, hair products, a camera, a book, my cell phone charger, a laptop-" She stopped when she saw that Robbie was in the floor, and she hurried over to him to make sure that he was okay. "I didn't mean to hurt you. Are you okay?"

Robbie looked up at her, his eyes meeting hers, and suddenly nothing seemed to hurt anymore. He looked down at her tiny hand resting on his knee, and he placed his hand over hers. "Not anymore. I'm fine." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Hey, Cat? Can I ask you a question?" Cat nodded and scooted closer to him, her eyes wide with curiosity. "If you could be with another guy right now besides me, would you?"

Cat sucked in a breath and blew it back out, and she tilted her head to the side as she mulled over the question. "Hmm…no," she replied simply before getting up and plopping down hard on the bed.

Questions like that usually required a little more explanation than what she gave him, but Robbie didn't feel like he needed anything else from her. For some reason, he felt like she was telling the truth.

….

Andre had been waiting anxiously all week for a call from his producers to see if Tori could possibly be recording with him from now on. However, no matter how many times he begged his phone to ring, it never did. He didn't think they needed that much time to discuss it, and he was starting to get nervous.

Tori was out with her sister for the day shopping, and Andre was forced to tag along with Beck and Jade. They were at a small café on the other side of town, and Andre had his phone out on the table and willing it to ring.

"You know, staring at it doesn't make it ring any sooner," Beck told him.

Andre had known all day that Beck and Jade were trying to get rid of him. He knew they wanted to be alone. But he just didn't want to be by himself right now. What if the producers called with bad news? He wouldn't be able to handle it on his own.

"It's just killing me waiting on a call, you know? Tori deserves to be famous. She's incredibly talented." No sooner did he say that that the phone started ringing, and it was his manager. He let it ring twice so that it wouldn't make him look desperate, and then he answered. "Hello?" As soon as his manager started speaking, he excused himself from the table and walked outside.

"I bet it's bad news," Jade said as she watched him walking around outside the window. "His shoulders are slumping."

"Let's just hope it's good news," Beck said.

"Yeah, so I can get the hell out of here. I can't deal with his whining."

Andre walked in a few minutes later, unable to hide the frown on his face. He sat down at the table, shaking his head and breathing unevenly. They knew what was going on before he even said a word. "So how the hell am I supposed to tell Tori they didn't like her?"

"Want me to tell her?" Jade asked, and Beck shot a glare at her.

Andre sighed and stared at his plate of food that was not going to be finished. He couldn't eat now that he knew he was about to crush Tori's dreams.

….

Cat and Robbie spent the entire weekend in the hotel room watching movies and doing other things that they were unable to do when their friends were around. When Sunday morning came, they left the hotel reluctantly and returned to Los Angeles, where they would have to go back to pretending. To avoid any questions, Robbie dropped Cat off a couple of blocks from Tori's house, and he drove home to unpack, promising Cat that he would be over at Tori's house in just a couple of hours.

Robbie didn't expect to walk into his house and find Andre standing there in the kitchen with a creepy grin on his face. It was as if he knew something, and Robbie prepared himself for any lying that he had to do.

"So the hotel called," Andre said, crossing his arms and grinning even more. "They said that someone left a tube of lip gloss, some mascara, and some eye shadow in the room."

Robbie hesitated. He and Cat had searched the room three times. How had they missed that? "Um…yes, that was mine."

Andre frowned and stared at Robbie in utter confusion. "Dude, I just thought you hooked up with someone. But I mean…" He paused while Robbie was staring at the floor, his face starting to turn bright red. "Okay, one question, Robbie. And whatever you say, I'll believe you, alright?"

Robbie nodded, although he was a little wary. "Okay, sure."

"Okay." Andre rubbed his hands together and then slammed them on the kitchen counter, causing Robbie to jump. "Are you gay?"

"What? No, I just…you know, I hooked up. And I didn't want to tell you because it's so unlike me." If Robbie could have kicked himself, he would have. He was the worst liar in the world.

"Whatever," Andre said, shrugging. "You wanna go to Tori's house? Trina's cooking tonight, and I'm a little curious." He couldn't bring himself to tell Robbie about what his manager had said. It was killing him inside, and he knew that he couldn't tell Tori right now either. Not with everyone else around…

He and Robbie loaded up in his SUV, and they headed across town to Tori's house. The ride was mostly silent, except for the few times that Andre prompted Robbie to talk about his San Diego hook-up. Robbie refused to speak about it, afraid that he was going to dig himself into an even deeper hole than he was already in.

When they arrived at Tori's house, Robbie was relieved to know that only Cat, Trina, and Tori were there. Tori and Trina were completely gullible, while Jade could usually tell when someone was incredibly nervous about something. If Jade would have been there…Robbie couldn't even think about that. He and Cat would be outed before they even had a chance to defend themselves.

"What's for dinner?" Andre asked as they walked in.

"Parmesan chicken!" Trina shouted over all of the sizzling and smoke emitting from the kitchen.

"Smells great," Andre said, although there was a terrible burning scent floating in the air. He had a feeling he would be eating at his house tonight.

Tori walked down the stairs a few minutes later, and Andre suddenly remembered the awful news that he had to pass on to her. He would just have to pretend like everything was fine for now. "How's my favorite girl?" he asked, wrapping his arm around her waist and kissing her on the cheek.

"Doing great," Tori replied. He wasn't the only one pretending. The only word that was rushing through Tori's head as he kissed her was _rebound_.

Cat didn't appear until after a small fire started and Trina had to put it out. In fact, she didn't come downstairs until Trina laid out the burnt chicken in front of everyone and offered them some rather ugly-looking noodles.

"Hey, Tori?" she said as she sat down at the table, obviously the only one that didn't notice the horrendous dinner in front of her. "Like, half of my make-up bag has gone missing. I lost some lip gloss, some eye shadow, and some mascara. Any chance you might have seen it anywhere?"

Robbie looked up and dropped his fork with a loud clatter as soon as he heard the words leave her mouth. Tori was shaking her head and force-feeding herself the burnt chicken, completely oblivious to any tension that just formed in the room. Trina was rattling on about never losing her make-up, but no one was listening to her. Cat was staring at Robbie curiously, and Andre's eyes had widened a considerable amount in the last few seconds as he started to process this new information. And then he started pointing at Cat and Robbie and shouting.

"You! Ahhhh!" The rest of the words coming out of his mouth were muffled, because Robbie had instinctively tackled him to the ground in hopes of getting him to shut up. Andre was fighting him off as best he could, but he was so shocked by the whole situation that he just wanted to shout out all of his jumbled thoughts.

Cat immediately registered what was going on, and she jumped up from her seat and rushed over to Andre and Robbie, ignoring the looks of horror and confusion that she was getting from Tori and Trina. Without thinking, she grabbed an unused napkin off the table and stuffed it in Andre's mouth so that he would shut up, and then Robbie got up and dragged Andre out of the room by the leg, with Cat following closely behind them.

Tori and Trina both debated on whether or not they should follow after as soon as Robbie started dragging Andre up the stairs, but they both decided against it. They didn't want to be involved in whatever was going on up there, so they just sat in awkward silence for a few minutes.

"Oh, we're so stupid," Trina said as she started to take a bite of her chicken and then threw it back on the plate. "They're trying to kidnap Andre."

"For some reason, I doubt that, Trina," Tori said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Upstairs, Robbie had hauled Andre into the guest bedroom that Cat was staying in and locked the door behind them. Andre was struggling against Robbie's grip on his foot, and then he realized that both of his hands had been free the whole time. He rolled his eyes and spit the napkin out on the floor, and he jerked his foot away from him.

"Okay, yes," Robbie said, before Andre could start screaming again. "Yes, Cat and I are together. We spent the weekend in San Diego together. But you have to stay quiet. Don't start yelling again."

Andre looked as if he was going to be sick by the idea of staying quiet, but then he crossed his arms and plopped down on the bed. "Since when?"

"Um…" Robbie glanced at Cat, and then turned back to Andre. "Well, we've only been dating officially for three weeks, but we've been sleeping together since the wedding."

"SLEEPING TOGETHER? MY WEDDING?" Andre shouted, and Robbie immediately slammed his hand over Andre's mouth and listened quietly to see if anyone had heard them.

"Shut up!" Robbie hissed, removing his hand when he didn't hear anything from downstairs. "We didn't want to tell anyone because we didn't want you guys to get all freaked out and stuff. We were going to tell you when we got ready to. Which could have been months…years from now, maybe."

"You can't tell anyone, though," Cat said, sitting down next to Andre on the bed. "Please. We just don't think it's the right time."

"But this is huge! I have to tell someone," Andre said as he got up and headed for the door. Robbie was faster, though, and he stood in front of the door. Andre looked like he was going through tons of internal torture as he struggled with everything that had just happened. He really wanted to tell someone all about this. It was just too huge to keep himself. But Robbie and Cat were both staring at him with hopeful eyes, and he sighed. "Fine, I promise I won't tell anyone."

Robbie smiled and Cat thanked him, and as Robbie moved to unlock the door, the door came flying open and almost smacked him in the face. Trina was standing in the doorway holding a broom.

"You guys are_ not_ going to kidnap Andre!" she shouted as she grabbed Andre's hand and pulled him back downstairs.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys! So it turns out that I did get to post a new chapter before I left for church camp. But this is the LAST CHAPTER until I get back on Friday. This chapter might seem a little rushed, I don't know, but I tried my best. I'll be leaving tomorrow morning at 5, but I'll still be able to see the reviews you guys leave me. So please, read and leave a review, whether you like or not. (:**

"So…what do you guys think?" Trina asked as she walked around the cluttered living room that was now part of her new apartment. She gestured to the large kitchen, which wouldn't be any use to her, and then to the huge window on the other side of the room that had a perfect view of Hollywood.

"It's great," Tori replied as she took a step forward, and then she stopped since there was nowhere to move anyway. Trina's boxes were covering almost every inch of the living room. "But how did you get enough money to pay for it? I mean, let's face it. This place is incredible."

Trina wore a prideful smirk on her face as she shrugged. "I just decided to stop spending so much money on clothes and start saving up to get out of the house. Mom and Dad were never around, and nobody ever came to visit, and I was stuck in there by myself most of the time. I just decided I needed to find my own place." There was a long silence before she clapped her hands loudly and smiled at everyone in the room. "Okay, chop chop! We have more boxes to move in here! And by 'we', I mean you guys!" With that, she walked away and somehow disappeared behind the large pile of boxes closest to the kitchen.

Everyone groaned as they all filed out of the apartment and headed downstairs to continue unloading the moving truck. Everyone except for Andre, Cat, and Robbie, who all stood in the clutter of boxes sending glances at each other and creating an incredibly awkward silence. After what seemed like an hour of silence, Andre cleared his throat and walked out of the room and downstairs to help everyone else unload the truck. Ever since he had found out about them, he had had a hard time coming up with something to say to them. It was like they were two totally different people. He figured that it would just take some time to get used to, though.

And then there was that small issue that sometime soon, he would have to break the news to Tori that she would be unable to sing with him. He couldn't even imagine the look of hurt that would be on her face when he told her the awful news. She had tried so hard to become famous, and he would just have to tell her that she was going to have to try again somewhere else.

He passed her as she was heading back up the stairs with a small box in her hands, and she avoided any sort of eye contact with him. It was like she knew something already.

"Hey, Tori?" he called after her. She jumped at the sound of his voice, as if she didn't even know he was there, and then she turned to face him. "Where's Beck and Jade?"

"They're by the truck making out," Tori replied simply. "I wouldn't go out there if I were you. Jade kicked me and told me to go away."

Andre didn't really care about Jade's violence issues. Right now, he really needed someone to talk to, and Jade and Beck were the only ones that knew about the whole situation. With a smile and a nod toward Tori, he continued down the stairs until he reached the lobby, where he could get a clear view of Beck and Jade standing out in the street. It looked pretty safe to go out there, since now they were just talking. He pushed open the door and walked outside, and without a word said, they already knew what was wrong.

"Look, you're just torturing yourself by not saying anything to her," Beck said. "The faster you do it, the better you'll feel."

"Or I could tell her," Jade suggested with a sly smirk. "I don't mind a few tears. Although I will warn you, I might laugh at her just a little bit if she cries."

Andre gave her a look like she was insane, and he shook his head. "No, I think I'll do it." He grabbed the last box in the moving truck and headed back upstairs with Beck and Jade following after him.

Trina had reappeared now that all of the boxes were in and she didn't have to do any work. She was looking particularly cheery about something. "Okay, now that everyone's here," she said, smiling wider than she already was, "I was just thinking while you guys were outside bringing up all my boxes that maybe I should have a housewarming party next weekend! Doesn't that sound great?"

No one was quite as enthused as Trina was by the idea, but a party did sound like a pretty decent idea. Cat seemed to be the most ecstatic about the idea, though.

"Trina, can I ask you something?" she questioned, and when she knew that she had Trina's full attention, she continued. "Well, I was looking around a few minutes ago, and I couldn't help but notice that you had an extra bedroom…" She paused and smiled innocently, hoping that Trina would catch on to what she was trying to say; unfortunately, she didn't. "Um…well, I really hate having to impose on your parents, and you seem to have plenty of space here- after you unpack and all- and I was just wondering if I could move in here with you."

Trina almost laughed out loud. "Oh, please. Like I would share any of this wonderful apartment with anyone."

Andre tuned them out as they began to argue, and it seemed as though everyone else did too. He glanced over at Tori, who was sitting on one of the boxes and looking everywhere but at him. He had to do it now. The longer he waited, the more he hurt both of them.

"Hey, Tor?" he said as he walked over to her and placed his hand softly on her shoulder.

She jumped as if he had stuck a fire to her, and then she smiled. "Hey, Andre. What's up?"

Andre knew that she was distracted by something, but he just couldn't figure out what. Unless she _did_ know about what the producers had told him. "Um…well…" She was staring at him, but it was like she wasn't really seeing him. It was like she was just staring right past him, and it was really starting to worry him. "Is there something you need to talk to me about?"

"No," Tori said, rapidly shaking her head. The truth was that she had been thinking night and day about her and Andre's rushed relationship. She had barely been able to sleep at night, and sometimes during the day, she walked around like a zombie. Five years she had hoped for Andre to return the love she felt for him, but she never wanted it like this. She didn't want to know that she was only there to make him feel better after his failed marriage. She just felt used.

"Okay, well…" Andre said, as if he didn't even notice the strange way that she was acting. "I have something to tell you…" He hesitated once again. She already looked like something was hurting her, and he just couldn't bear to see her anymore pained than she was now.

"Oh, God," Jade groaned from behind him, and he knew that she was about to take over. He tried to stop her, but he knew that it would be no use. "Look, Andre, I'm tired. Really, really tired. And I'm really pissed off that I have to be here instead of in bed right now. You're just pissing me off even more." She paused and turned to Tori, who was looking in between the two of them confusedly.

"Tori," Jade continued with a bittersweet smile, "Andre got a call from his producers the other day, and they told him you were not going to be singing with him. So you might as well suck it up and try again. Oh, I feel _so_ much better now, don't you?" She clapped Andre on the shoulder and returned to her spot on the couch.

Andre glanced behind him at Jade, who merely shrugged at him, and then at Tori, who was staring at him in disbelief. "Tori, I can explain-"

"You don't have to," Tori replied, and she smiled. Andre was utterly confused by the behavior, and she took his hand in hers. "Your producers called me too. They told me that they did want me to sing with you. They were just messing around with you. They thought it'd be funny because they said you get freaked out over a lot of things."

Andre frowned. Instead of feeling happy or relieved about the news like Tori had expected him to, he actually looked like he was angry at her. "So…you knew this whole time that you were going to be signed, and you didn't tell me? You just let me worry about telling you that you couldn't?"

"Andre, relax. It was a joke…" Tori said, shrugging nonchalantly. She didn't want to fight with him, not now in front of all of her friends. But Andre didn't seem to be backing down.

"Okay," he said, clapping his hands together and suddenly turning to face everyone else in the room, "does anybody else have any secrets they need to get off their chest?" His voice was calm and even, although Tori could tell that all he wanted to do was yell at someone.

The whole room was silent for a few minutes. Cat and Robbie exchanged a glance with each other, wondering if maybe Andre was going to tell everyone about them. Robbie cast a hopeful glance in Andre's direction, but Andre seemed to be ignoring him.

"Oh, okay. I have one," Jade said, raising her hand and jumping off the couch. "I'm pregnant. With twins. Although I don't understand how that happened because there are no twins in my family."

There were murmurs of excitement from all over the room. Andre even seemed excited about it, even though he was looking rather angry just a few seconds ago. Beck leapt up from the couch immediately and placed his hands gently on her shoulders. "Jade, what happened? I thought we were going to tell them after your next doctor's appointment."

"Well, I don't really care if anyone knows or not now. I'm just tired and nauseated, and I want to go home." Jade gave him a look that could have killed, and he fell silent.

"That's so exciting!" Cat exclaimed, obviously more delighted about the whole idea than anyone else in the room. "Name one of them Cat!"

"Okay!" Andre spoke before Jade could argue with her. "That's great news, and I'm happy for you." He wasn't lying, but there was so much going through his head at the moment that he couldn't concentrate on it all at the same time. "Anything else anybody wants to share?"

Once again, the whole room fell into an uncomfortable silence. Cat and Robbie exchanged another glance, wondering if they needed to say anything, but they both decided against it. Tori climbed off of her box and slowly walked over to where Andre was standing in the center of the room. She had never seen him look so distressed, and she didn't mean to be the cause of it. She thought he would be excited by the fact that they would be singing together from now on. But he wasn't the only one distressed about something. Tori knew that if any time was the time to speak to him about their relationship, it was now.

"Andre, am I your rebound?" she asked before she could even think about it. She covered her mouth as soon as Andre rounded on her, and she suddenly wished that she would have waited until no one else was around.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, like he had never heard anything more ridiculous in his life.

Tori frowned and looked around the room at her friends, who were all staring at her intently, wondering what she was going to say next. She wanted them to go away, to leave her and Andre alone for just a few minutes…and then Beck spoke.

"Well, I think it's time to go home. Come on, Jade."

"No, this is getting interesting. I can put off my nap for later."

Tori watched as Beck grabbed Jade off the couch and dragged her out the door, and Cat and Robbie followed awkwardly behind. Trina continued standing in the living room for a few seconds, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other, and then she ran out, leaving Tori and Andre alone.

When Tori didn't hear anyone out in the hallway anymore, she turned back to Andre and crossed her arms. "Andre, did you love Chelsea? And please don't lie to me."

Andre looked down at the floor and thought about the question. Well, of course he had loved Chelsea. They dated for three years before they decided to get married. But he had also loved Tori since the day he met her. He had simply decided to move on with his life when he realized that she was not coming back from New York. And now she was back, and he was just confused. As soon as he saw her a few weeks ago, old feelings came rushing back to him, and he started to question his relationship with Chelsea. All of his feelings had been so jumbled up ever since he sent out the wedding invitations. He just didn't know what to do.

"Yes, I did," he replied simply, not meeting her eyes. "But I loved you first."

"So…what? You couldn't have me, so you settled for Chelsea?" Tori moved to sit down on the couch, looking anywhere but at Andre. She wished that she and Andre could just be a perfect Hollywood couple, as they had dreamed of when they were in high school. But she knew that they were far away from perfection.

"No, I moved on." Andre sighed and sat down next to Tori on the couch. He tried to reach out and take her hand in his, but she quickly moved it away. "Maybe we just need some time to figure things out."

Tori nodded and scooted away from him a little bit more. She felt really uncomfortable at the moment, and she just wanted to leave. "Right. So…are we breaking up? Is that what you want to do?"

"Maybe not break up," Andre replied softly. He could tell that Tori was getting upset. "Maybe we should just…you know, take a break? We can figure a few things out, and if we end up getting back together, then it was meant to be." He honestly had no idea what he was talking about. Why were they taking a break? They cared so much about each other. It didn't matter to him if he just got annulled or not. It mattered that he and Tori were meant for each other. But she believed that it was wrong, and he could see where she was coming from.

"Okay," Tori said so softly that it was almost inaudible. She bit her lip and tried to keep the tears from falling down, but she knew that it was no use. A single tear fell, and Andre reached over and wiped it away before she could even move.

"Don't cry, Tor. You know that you'll always be my favorite girl, even if we aren't dating." He was on the verge of tears as well, but he was able to hold it together a little more easily than Tori was. This was all for the best. They would be able to figure themselves out a little more before they got into a serious relationship with one another.

"I have to go. I'll see you later." Tori got up from the couch and ran out of the apartment, refusing to look behind her. How was she supposed to perform with him now? How was anything ever going to work out for them? Andre would be dating other girls, and she would be dating other guys, but she knew it would be no use. No guy would ever be the same as Andre. So she would be stuck wallowing in her own misery again.

She found that everyone was sitting on the stairs, probably trying to listen in to her and Andre's conversation since the door was open. She knew that they knew what happened, but she didn't want to talk to anyone about it. She ran right past them, not even stopping long enough to look at them, and she didn't stop until she was out the door and away from the apartment building.

There was a long, uncomfortable silence that followed her exit. After a few minutes, Andre came out looking angry and upset, and he walked right past them as well. They all exchanged glances, and Trina was the first to speak.

"So…Cat, I've decided that you can stay here with me if you want to. I mean, Tori probably needs to be alone right now, and…well, let's face it, you're not very good at comforting people." She smiled sweetly and patted Cat on the head before getting up from the stairs and walking into her apartment, closing the door behind her.

Beck pulled out his cell phone and checked the time, and upon seeing that it was close to 4:30, he jumped up from the stairs excitedly and turned to face Jade. "Come outside with me. There's something I need to show you." With that, he darted down the stairs and out the door, leaving Cat, Robbie, and Jade on the stairs looking confused.

Jade groaned, assuming that this was probably one of Beck's proposal ideas. She was not all that enthused about it, but she got up from the stairs and followed after him slowly. By the time she finally made it outside, Beck was looking rather angry, and she knew that she had messed up his plans. She smirked. "I'm sorry. Did you have a plane flying by with a wedding proposal?"

Beck was silent for a few seconds as he stared up at the clear blue sky. "Uh-huh. Do you enjoy annoying me?"

"I feed off of it." She smirked again and patted him on the shoulder before walking down the sidewalk, leaving Beck standing alone and still watching the sky.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys! I'm sorry about that long delay! It's just that when I came back from camp, I sort of lost inspiration for any of my fics, so I put them all on hiatus or deleted them. But I watched a Beck/Jade video on YouTube today, and I got re-inspired. So here's the next chapter. Hope I don't disappoint! Read and review, please. (:**

Tori tossed and turned every night for the next week. Every time she closed her eyes and attempted to sleep, she would remember that she and Andre were no longer a couple. They were on a break, whatever that meant. Did that mean they could date other people? She didn't understand the whole concept. But every single time she thought about it, her eyes would open once again, and she would be much too worried and upset to sleep.

It became apparent that she was getting worse and worse as every day went by. Trina and Cat had both moved out, so now she was alone with her parents in that big house, and she felt more lonely than ever. She didn't have anyone to talk to late at night. She used to walk over to Trina's room and wake her up if something was bothering her. They would talk through it, even though Trina gave the worst advice in the world, but somehow, it made Tori feel better. Now, with Trina and Cat gone, she only had herself. Her parents were hardly ever at home.

Tori stopped eating as much, simply because every time she tried to, she started feeling sick and suddenly didn't want anything. Her lack of sleep made her sluggish in everything that she did every day for the next week. She had to meet up with Andre for rehearsals, and she couldn't even look at him the whole time they were rehearsing. She would stand on one side of the stage, and he would stand on the other, and they would ignore each other for the most part, unless there was a problem with the song that needed to be fixed. At the moment, they didn't have any major shows to do together, but Trina had begged them to play at her housewarming party that Friday night. She thought that more people would show up if they knew Andre would be there. So, currently, they were only rehearsing for that.

Tori and Andre got to Trina and Cat's apartment early that Friday to set up, while Trina rushed in and out of her bedroom asking everyone's opinions on different outfits that she tried on. Jade told her that she hated every single one of them, but Trina always scowled at her and turned to everyone else, who really didn't seem to care what she was wearing.

"You guys!" Trina exclaimed after the tenth outfit. "There's a movie producer coming here tonight, and he said I could possibly get the lead in the new movie he's working on. I need to make a good first impression!" She growled something under her breath and then stomped back into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

Tori sighed as everyone else began chatting as if nothing had just happened. She glanced over at Andre, who was hooking up the microphones right in front of the huge window with the the beautiful view of Hollywood. She didn't want to sing tonight. She was feeling terrible, and she hadn't had any sleep in an entire week. Her face was paler than it usually was, and there were dark circles under her eyes that she just couldn't cover up, no matter how much make-up she put on over it. Her brown eyes weren't jumping with excitement as they usually were. She looked no better than a corpse, and she wondered how she had ever become famous. She didn't look like a star, and she didn't feel like a star. She wasn't a star. She was fooling herself. It took much more than talent to be famous.

"You ready?" Andre asked from beside her, and she jumped. She hadn't realized that he had been so close to her. He looked up from the wires that he was messing with, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Yeah," Tori answered quietly, trying to return a smile. She thought he loved her. How could he be pretending that nothing had happened? It had only been a week. "Yeah, what are we singing first again?"

"Well, I think we're going to start on covers, and then we can move into my original stuff, if that's okay," Andre replied, but he didn't wait for her opinion on what was going down for the night. He turned away from her and started to play her keyboard loudly so that everyone had to shout over it if they wanted to be heard.

Tori sighed again and sat down on the speaker that Andre had already set up. She didn't speak to him again until people started knocking on the door and entering the apartment, more excited to see Andre and his new music partner than to see Trina's new apartment. Half of the people that showed up didn't even know who Trina and Cat were, but Trina didn't care. She just liked looking popular.

"We're still singing that song for Beck, right?" she asked, as Andre was about to walk up to the microphone and announce the first song.

Andre turned around to look at her, obviously confused about what she was talking about, and then a look of realization passed over his face. "Yeah, of course. We'll throw it in there somewhere. He's pushing this marriage thing a little bit much, don't you think? I mean, what's the point of getting married? It's stupid."

Tori rolled her eyes and stepped up to her microphone. She knew that he was only saying that because he was bitter, but why was he saying it to her? He must actually be mad at her. She was at least glad that she was getting some sort of reaction out of him. She would rather him be mad at her than for him to ignore her. He announced his presence, introduced Tori, and then after lots of applause from the guests at the party, Andre started in on their first song. It was Auburn's "Perfect Two", a song that they were supposed to duet together, but Tori ended up singing the whole thing by herself. They really should have thought their set list through a little more before they got to the party.

Robbie approached Cat nervously, hoping that none of his friends were paying any attention to them. It didn't seem like they were. Tori was completely lost in the song, although she did send a few glances in Andre's direction. It didn't matter if Andre saw anything. Jade and Beck were in the corner of the room talking, and Trina was laughing about something that her movie producer friend had just said. Since no one was paying attention, he thought that it would be safe.

"Hey, Cat? You wanna dance with me?" he asked, glancing around again just in case.

Cat giggled and stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him. When Robbie tried to stop her, she only pulled him closer. "No one's looking," she said, and that was good enough for him. If she didn't care, neither did he. "Hey, Robbie? You're the apple to my pie." She giggled again and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Robbie smiled at her and rested his forehead against hers. "And you're the smoke to my high."

Cat returned the smile and wondered if maybe she needed to tell him that she loved him. She did, after all. She had never felt like this around any other boy. She wanted to be with him forever, or as long as he wanted to be with her. She didn't care, just as long as he was around. What better time could there be to tell him? Now would be perfect. "I love you," she whispered against his lips.

Robbie's eyes widened as he moved away from her, not sure if he had heard her correctly. "Um…what?" he asked, his voice shaking just as much as the rest of his body was.

Cat frowned. "I said I love you." Her eyes weren't bright and exuberant like they usually were. She looked a little hurt at his reaction, but then she reminded herself that perhaps he seriously didn't hear what she had said.

"Hmm…" Robbie said, looking down at the ground and around the room, pretty much anywhere that wasn't at Cat. He couldn't think of anything to say to her. Sure, he loved her, but didn't that mean that he was committing himself to her? Robbie had never been in a real relationship before. He didn't know how they worked. He had been afraid of girls ever since he had been turned down for the first time, and he had grown to be afraid of commitment. "Um…thank you," he said, before awkwardly walking away and leaving Cat in a state of utter confusion.

After a couple more songs, Tori and Andre decided to take a break for just a minute or so. As Tori walked to the edge of the makeshift stage to grab her water bottle, a woman about the same age as her approached her with a tiny smile on her face. Tori lowered her water bottle from her mouth and waved to the girl, but then she noticed that this woman looked a lot like Chelsea. She didn't think it was actually Chelsea, though. She had heard on the entertainment news that Chelsea had pretty much disappeared off the map. But this girl looked almost exactly like her. She had the caramel-colored skin and the dark, wavy hair with the beautiful eyes and the perfect body. Tori almost dropped her bottle as she realized the resemblance, but then the girl spoke. It wasn't Chelsea.

"Hi, I'm Hayley," she said, her plumped pink lips parting to show off a beautiful white smile. "I just wanted to tell you that you and Andre sound absolutely amazing together. And don't take this the wrong way, but aren't you the girl whose name he said at his wedding instead of Chelsea's?"

Tori spit out her water all over the stage and laughed. She had almost forgotten that that was the reason Andre wasn't married now. It was so distressful just a mere two months ago, and now it was kind of humorous. "Yes, that's me. It was a simple mistake, though. He really loved Chelsea, not me." The words hurt as they came out of her mouth, but she pushed back the pain and put on a smile.

"Really?" Hayley questioned, her smile turning a little mischievous. "So you guys aren't involved with each other or anything?"

Tori knew where this was leading to. Hayley was interested in Andre. "Um…no, we're not. We just broke up, actually. He's single."

"You think I'd have a shot?" Hayley asked. She looked like she was about to jump out of her own skin she was so excited.

Tori shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe-" She was interrupted by Andre tapping her on the shoulder and gesturing for her to come back to the stage. Hayley waved to him, and he waved back with a smile. Tori felt sick to her stomach. He wasn't seriously moving on after one week, was he?

"This song was requested by my best friend, Beck Oliver," Andre said into the microphone as he began playing a soft, slow tune.

Jade looked over at Beck in confusion, wondering why he would have requested any song. He got up from the couch, dragging Jade with him, and she continued watching Andre with interest. She recognized the tune, but she couldn't remember what song it was.

_Forever can never be long enough for me_

_ Feel like I've had long enough with you_

_ Forget the world now, we won't let them see_

_ But there's one thing left to do_

_ Now that the weight has lifted, _

_ Love has surely shifted my way_

_ Marry me_

Jade knew exactly what song it was. It was by Train. She had always liked the song, even though it didn't seem like something she would like. As she looked over at Beck to ask him what was going on, she saw that he was down on one knee, that beautiful engagement ring in his hands and a hopeful glint in his eyes. Jade hadn't fully comprehended the song, but as Andre continued singing the chorus, she knew. This was the first proposal plan that she hadn't caught on to before it had happened. Everyone around them was looking in their direction, some people looking almost as hopeful as Beck, and some of the girls whispering angrily as if they expected him to be with someone better.

"Will you marry me?" Beck asked, when she didn't say anything for a long moment. "Please?"

Jade honestly had not seen this coming. A small smile formed on her lips, and she almost felt like crying, but not quite. "I didn't ruin it this time."

"I know," Beck said. "I was surprised that this actually worked. So…?"

Jade glanced up at the stage and saw that Tori was looking over at them as well as she sang back-up. She smiled and gave Jade a thumbs-up, and then Jade looked back at Beck. "Fine, I will. But it's only because you won't leave me alone."

Beck smiled wider than he ever had before as he got up from the floor and placed the ring on her finger before pulling her into a kiss. A few people around them clapped, while some of the girls were still upset. "Jade, you're crying," Beck said as soon as he let go of her.

Jade frowned and reached up to wipe away the tears that were now falling down her cheeks. "No, I'm not. It's allergies. Shut up," she said, hitting him and turning to walk away, but he engulfed her in a hug before she could move too far.

"And now, I think the moment calls for this song," Tori said into the microphone. She looked at Andre, who was looking back at her in confusion, but then he understood. He started playing a more upbeat tune, and then Tori began to sing.

_It's always been about me, myself, and I_

_ I thought relationships were nothing but a waste of time_

_ I never wanted to be anybody's other half_

_ I was happy saying I had a love that wouldn't last_

_ That was the only way I knew 'til I met you_

_ You make me wanna say_

_ I do, I do, I do-_

"Vega!" Jade exclaimed, looking at her in disgust. "You're ruining the moment."

"Sorry!" Tori called back to her happily. She knew Jade wasn't actually mad at her. "We'll take another break because I'm kind of hungry, and I wanna congratulate my friends." She walked off stage and headed to the back of the room where Beck and Jade were. Cat and Robbie followed closely after her, but Andre was nowhere to be seen. As they all said their congratulations to them, Tori looked around the incredibly crowded room for Andre. Why hadn't he come over to talk to Beck and Jade? Beck was supposed to be his best friend.

And then she spotted him. He was just in front of the stage talking to that Hayley girl. A small pain throbbed in her chest as she watched Hayley throw her head back in laughter and playfully hit Andre. It wasn't jealousy, she told herself. She was not jealous. They were on a break, whatever that meant. They were not a couple. She couldn't care if another girl was interested in him. He wasn't hers; he could do what he wanted to do. She took a deep breath and tried to pretend they weren't there, and eventually, she turned back to all of her friends with a fake smile and continued to share her dwindling excitement in the engagement.

Eventually, Jade got tired of everyone and told them to go away, so Tori walked back over to the stage. As she took a sip from her water bottle and looked out the window at the stars that she could barely see in the sky, she spotted two people walking on the sidewalk hand-in-hand. She bent down and squinted her eyes a little, and she realized that it was Andre and Hayley. She was leading him down the street, away from Trina's apartment building, and he was letting her take him when he knew he had a show to finish. As Tori rose up again and looked around the room, which was still crowded, she knew that there would be no more live music for the night. Andre was gone.


End file.
